Jewess

[joo-is]

noun Older Use: Usually Offensive.

a term used to refer to a Jewish girl or woman.

Origin of Jewess

First recorded in 1350–1400, Jewess is from the Middle English word jewesse. See Jew, -ess

Usage note

First used in the Middle Ages, the term Jewess has been an inoffensive, neutral term for most of its history. With the advent of the civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s, it began to be considered condescending and has since declined in use. See also -ess.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for jewess

Contemporary Examples of jewess

So, why no Jewess in the mix of more recent and diverse Miss Americas?
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America?
Emily Shire
January 7, 2015
At the back we had some of those steel cupboards where we kept our stock and I put the Jew and the Jewess in there!
‘Soldaten: Secret WWII Transcripts of German POWs’ by Soenke Neitzel & Harald Welzer
Sönke Neitzel, Harald Welzer
September 24, 2012

Historical Examples of jewess

You are no longer a Jewess; you are one of our faith; there is now no bar upon our loves.
Leila, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Then, as to her being a Jewess—who knows what changes love might produce?
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
This was the first time he omitted to call them the Jew and Jewess.
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
Judith might have been tempted to do that sort of thing; she was a Jewess.
The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, Complete
Madame La Marquise De Montespan
Was it, as a Jewess, that my speculations about race had offended her?
That Boy Of Norcott's
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for jewess

Jewess

noun

often offensive a Jewish girl or woman

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for jewess

Jewess

late 14c. (late 13c. as a surname), from Old French jüiesse, fem. of jüif (see Jew).