Hebrew

American  

[hee-broo] / ˈhi bru /

noun

1. a member of the Semitic peoples inhabiting ancient Palestine and claiming descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; an Israelite.

2. a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic family, the language of the ancient Hebrews, which, although not in a vernacular use from 100 b.c. to the 20th century, was retained as the scholarly and liturgical language of Jews and is now the national language of Israel. Heb

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adjective

1. Hebraic.

2. noting or pertaining to the script developed from the Aramaic and early Hebraic alphabets, used since about the 3rd century b.c. for the writing of Hebrew, and later for Yiddish, Ladino, and other languages.

Hebrew British  

/ ˈhiːbruː /

noun

1. the ancient language of the Hebrews, revived as the official language of Israel. It belongs to the Canaanitic branch of the Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages

2. a member of an ancient Semitic people claiming descent from Abraham; an Israelite

3. archaic a Jew

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Hebrews or their language

2. archaic Jewish

Hebrew Cultural  

1. The language of the Hebrews, in which the Old Testament was written. It is the language of the modern state of Israel.

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Other Word Forms

• non-Hebrew noun
• pre-Hebrew adjective

Etymology

Origin of Hebrew

before 1000; Middle English Hebreu, variant (with H- < Latin ) of Ebreu < Old French < Medieval Latin Ebrēus for Latin Hebraeus < Late Greek Hebraîos < Aramaic ʿIbhraij; replacing Old English Ebrēas (plural) < Medieval Latin Ebrēī

Example Sentences

As a child in New Orleans, Mr. Lemann never attended a bar mitzvah or bris; he heard neither Yiddish nor Hebrew.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

Hatzola, the Hebrew word for save or rescue, is a large non-profit, Jewish-led organisation that provides a free emergency medical response and transportation to hospitals by volunteer medics.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

Many who don’t have a special reinforced room in their home, called in Hebrew a mamad, choose to camp in communal bunkers instead of scrambling to safety every time an alert goes off.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026

Some tasks involve translating ancient Palmyrene inscriptions, while others require identifying tiny anatomical structures in birds or analyzing detailed features of Biblical Hebrew pronunciation.

From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2026

Reverend Crump told Poppy he wished they could say a prayer in Hebrew for him.

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye