Israelite
Americannoun
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a descendant of Jacob, especially a member of the Hebrew people who inhabited the ancient kingdom of Israel.
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one of a group considered by its members or by others as God's chosen people.
adjective
noun
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Bible a member of the ethnic group claiming descent from Jacob; a Hebrew
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Bible a citizen of the kingdom of Israel (922 to 721 bc ) as opposed to Judah
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a member of any of various Christian sects who regard themselves as God's chosen people
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an archaic and sometimes offensive word for a Jew
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Israelite
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at Israel, -ite 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Nakaya is also a senior researcher at Einstein Israelite Hospital and a professor at the University of São Paulo's School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 30, 2026
On Sunday night Jews celebrated the beginning of Hanukkah, which commemorates the Israelite victory in 167 B.C. over the Seleucids and their effort to impose their Greek identity on the people of Israel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025
The Brazilian Israelite Confederation said Lula's remarks were a "perverse distortion of reality" which "offend the memory of Holocaust victims and their descendants".
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2024
The president of the Central Israelite Committee of Uruguay, Roby Schindler, sent a letter to the Sofitel hotel urging it not to host Waters, Pagina 12 said.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
He was the sort of man who would become a British Israelite nowadays, and spend the rest of his life prophesying the end of the world by measuring the passages in the Great Pyramid.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
The image called to mind the golden calf of Abrahamic religious texts, worshipped by the Israelites to Moses’—and God’s—dismay.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
For the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians, kings were created in God’s image, but for the Israelites, this honor was bestowed on every individual.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
The major Jewish holiday celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and so has special poignancy for the freed hostages and those still captive in Gaza, like Eitan.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2025
Sukkot is a weeklong Jewish holiday that celebrates the fall harvest and commemorates the biblical story of the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years after escaping slavery in Egypt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2024
I thought of Moses leading the Israelites through the desert and God answering their hunger by raining down manna from heaven.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
