Zionism

[zahy-uh-niz-uh m]

noun

a worldwide Jewish movement that resulted in the establishment and development of the state of Israel.

Origin of Zionism

First recorded in 1895–1900; Zion + -ism

Related formsZi·on·ist, noun, adjectiveZi·on·is·tic, adjectiveZi·on·ite

[zahy-uh nahyt] /ˈzaɪˌənaɪt/, nounan·ti-Zi·on·ism, nounan·ti-Zi·on·ist, noun, adjectivenon-Zi·on·ist, noun, adjectivepro-Zi·on·ism, nounpro-Zi·on·ist, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for zionism

Contemporary Examples of zionism

As Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, once said, "If you will it, it is no dream."
Would Pro-Israel Billionaires Adelson and Saban Really Buy the NYT?
Eli Lake
November 9, 2014
It opposes global capitalism, European integration and Zionism.
In Hands of Hungarian Artist, Jewish Home Movies of the ’30s a Warning of Coming Holocaust
Daniel Genis
October 25, 2014
None of it has lessened my belief in Zionism or the imperative of Israel as a home and sanctuary for Jews.
Don’t Accuse Israel of Apartheid
Benjamin Pogrund
July 17, 2014
By evening,” Shavit writes, “Zionism has taken the city of Lydda.
The Triumph and Tragedy of Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land
Sol Stern
February 9, 2014
“Zionism carries out a massacre in the city of Lydda,” Shavit writes.
The Triumph and Tragedy of Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land
Sol Stern
February 9, 2014

Historical Examples of zionism

The premises of political Zionism are that there is a Jewish nation.
Zionism and Anti-Semitism
Max Simon Nordau
This is, in brief, the theological side of the vexed question of Zionism.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Patrick Braybrooke
This is an allegory referring to certain aspects of Zionism.
Stories and Pictures
Isaac Loeb Peretz
For that end, however, we ought to put a stop to disputes about Zionism and anti-Zionism.
The Allied Countries and the Jews
Hyman Gerson Enelow
Let us, therefore, for once realize that Israel is greater than Zionism, and Palestine more important than parties.
The Allied Countries and the Jews
Hyman Gerson Enelow

British Dictionary definitions for zionism

Zionism

noun

a political movement for the establishment and support of a national homeland for Jews in Palestine, now concerned chiefly with the development of the modern state of Israel

a policy or movement for Jews to return to Palestine from the Diaspora

Derived FormsZionist, noun, adjectiveZionistic, adjective

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 zionism

Zionism

"movement for forming (later supporting) a Jewish national state in Palestine," 1896, from German Zionismus (from Zion + Latin-derived suffix -ismus; see -ism); first recorded 1886 in "Selbstemancipation," by "Matthias Acher" (pseudonym of Nathan Birnbaum).

zionism in Culture

Zionism

The belief that Jews (see also Jews) should have their own nation; Jewish nationalism. Zionism gained much support among Jews and others in the early twentieth century, and the hoped-for nation was established in the late 1940s in Palestine, as the state of Israel. Zionism is opposed by most Arabs. (See Arab-Israeli conflict.)