Ezra

[ez-ruh]

noun

1. a Jewish scribe and prophet of the 5th century b.c., who with Nehemiah led the revival of Judaism in Palestine.

2. a book of the Bible bearing his name. Ezr.

3. a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “help.”

Ezra

/ ˈɛzrə /

noun

1. a Jewish priest of the 5th century _bc , who was sent from Babylon by the Persian king Artaxerxes I to reconstitute observance of the Jewish law and worship in Jerusalem after the captivity

2. the book recounting his efforts to perform this task

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ezra¹

From Late Latin Ezras, ulimately from Hebrew ʿezrā “help”

Example Sentences

At the children's centre Jay, holding her young son Ezra, describes postnatal depression as "feeling low when I know I should have been at the happiest point of my life".

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BEIJING—Under intense pressure from authorities in China, Ezra Jin persisted for years in building one of the nation’s largest underground Christian churches, with branches in 40 cities across the country.

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Political commentator Ezra Klein wrote, “You can dislike much of what Kirk believed and the following statement is still true: Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way.”

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Ezra, who now works for Become, a care leavers' charity, first went into care aged nine.

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Notable omissions this year include former winners Little Simz and Ezra Collective, whose albums Lotus and Dance, No-One's Watching were met with rave reviews.

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