Ashkenazim
[ahsh-kuh-nah-zim]
- Jews of central and eastern Europe, or their descendants, distinguished from the Sephardim chiefly by their liturgy, religious customs, and pronunciation of Hebrew.
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Origin of Ashkenazim
1830–40; < post-Biblical Hebrew ashkənazzīm, plural of ashkənazzī, equivalent to ashkənaz Ashkenaz + -ī suffix of appurtenance
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Ashkenazi
- (modifier) of or relating to the Jews of Germany and E Europe
- a Jew of German or E European descent
- the pronunciation of Hebrew used by these Jews
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Compare Sephardi
Word Origin for Ashkenazi
C19: Late Hebrew, from Hebrew Ashkenaz, the son of Gomer (Genesis 10:3; I Chronicles 1:6), a descendant of Noah through Japheth, and hence taken to be identified with the ancient Ascanians of Phrygia and, in the medieval period, the Germans
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for ashkenazi
Ashkenazim
(plural) "central and northern European Jews" (as opposed to Sephardim, Jews of Spain and Portugal), 1839, from Hebrew Ashkenazzim, plural of Ashkenaz, eldest son of Gomer (Gen. x:3), also the name of a people mentioned in Jer. li:27 (perhaps akin to Greek skythoi "Scythians," cf. Akkadian ishkuzai); identified historically with various people; in Middle Ages, with the Germans.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper