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Semitism

[sem-i-tiz-uh m or, esp. British, see-mi-]
noun
  1. Semitic characteristics, especially the ways, ideas, influence, etc., of the Jewish people.
  2. a word or idiom peculiar to, derived from, or characteristic of a Semitic language, especially of Hebrew.
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Origin of Semitism

First recorded in 1850–55; Semite + -ism
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for semitism

Historical Examples of semitism

  • But Semitism rallied in the shape of the Reformation, and swept all away.

    Lothair

    Benjamin Disraeli

  • Semitism gave them subjects, but the Renaissance gave them Aryan art, and it gave that art to a purely Aryan race.

    Lothair

    Benjamin Disraeli

Word Origin and History for semitism

Semitism

n.

1848, "characteristic attributes of Semitic languages;" 1851, "characteristic attributes of Semitic people," from Semite + -ism. From 1870 as "Jewish influence in a society."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper