Samaritan

American  

[suh-mar-i-tn] / səˈmær ɪ tn /

noun

1. an inhabitant of Samaria.

2. good Samaritan.

3. any of the dialects of Aramaic spoken by the Samaritans in ancient Israel and until recently still spoken in Nablus.

---

adjective

1. pertaining to Samaria or to Samaritans.

Samaritan British  

/ səˈmærɪtən /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Samaria

2. short for Good Samaritan

3. a member of a voluntary organization ( the Samaritans ) which offers counselling to people in despair, esp by telephone

4. the dialect of Aramaic spoken in Samaria

---

adjective

1. of or relating to Samaria

Samaritan Idioms  

1. see good Samaritan.

---

Other Word Forms

• Samaritanism noun

Etymology

Origin of Samaritan

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English, from Late Latin plural adjective and noun Samarītānī “Samaritan, Samaritans” (from Greek Samarī́t(ēs) “a Samaritan,” derivative of Samáreia “Samaria”)

Example Sentences

But a little later, Laura asks to stay with this good Samaritan rather than go with the EMTs, an arrangement that clearly pleases Betty.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

At Good Samaritan, Maia limps into the ER, cons her way into priority triage, gets stitched up, and limps back out against the doctor’s orders.

From Salon • Dec. 15, 2025

He was, by all accounts, acting as a Good Samaritan, trying to break up the fight.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 7, 2025

Miranda fashions himself equal parts good Samaritan, stuntman and documentary filmmaker.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025

“And,” Mom says, “they finally found the good Samaritan who saved all those people in that nursing home.”

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman