Samaritan
[suh-mar-i-tn]
- an inhabitant of Samaria.
- good Samaritan.
- (often lowercase) one who is compassionate and helpful to a person in distress.
- any of the dialects of Aramaic spoken by the Samaritans in ancient Israel and until recently still spoken in Nablus.
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- pertaining to Samaria or to Samaritans.
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Origin of Samaritan
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for samaritan
Contemporary Examples
The Samaritan guidelines are written around the assumption that suicide is a purely irrational act, an act spurred by illness.
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide JournalismArthur Chu
January 3, 2015
Historical Examples
He next proceeded to learn the Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan dialects.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
Jesus the ChristJames Edward Talmage
The testimony of a Samaritan could not be heard before a Jewish tribunal.
Jesus the ChristJames Edward Talmage
The man who smokes, thinks like a sage and acts like a Samaritan.
Familiar QuotationsJohn Bartlett
There were none that returned to give thanks save this Samaritan.
My Daily Meditation for the Circling YearJohn Henry Jowett
Samaritan
- a native or inhabitant of Samaria
- short for Good Samaritan
- a member of a voluntary organization (the Samaritans) which offers counselling to people in despair, esp by telephone
- the dialect of Aramaic spoken in Samaria
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- of or relating to Samaria
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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 samaritan
Samaritan
n.
Old English, "inhabitant of Samaria," a district of Palestine, from Late Latin Samaritanus, from Greek Samareia (see Samaria). A non-Hebrew race was settled in its cities by the king of Assyria after the removal of the Israelites from the country. They later adopted some Jewish ways, but largely remained apart. Figurative use with reference to the good Samaritan is first recorded 1630s, from Luke x:33. Related: Samaritanism.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with samaritan
Samaritan
see good Samaritan.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.