Zionism

[ zahy-uh-niz-uhm ]

/ ˈzaɪ əˌnɪz əm /

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noun

a worldwide Jewish movement that resulted in the establishment and development of the state of Israel and that now supports the state of Israel as a Jewish homeland.

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Origin of Zionism

First recorded in 1895–1900; Zion + -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM Zionism

Zi·on·ist, noun, adjectiveZi·on·is·tic, adjectiveZi·on·ite

[zahy-uhnahyt], /ˈzaɪˌənaɪt/, nounan·ti-Zi·on·ism, noun

an·ti-Zi·on·ist, noun, adjectivenon-Zi·on·ist, noun, adjectivepro-Zi·on·ism, nounpro-Zi·on·ist, noun, adjective

Words nearby Zionism

Zinovievsk, Zinsser, Zinzendorf, zinziberaceous, Zion, Zionism, Zion, Mount, Zion National Park, zip, Zipangu, zip code

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Zionism in a sentence

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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
From the very beginning there was a substantial contradiction between Zionism and Lydda.
The Triumph and Tragedy of Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land|Sol Stern|February 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
Rather strange of Zangwill, who is himself not a realist and has gone in for Zionism, to like Ibsen so much.
Discourses of Keidansky|Bernard G. Richards
Zionism, Socialism and Anarchism come up in turn, and so many trenchant and vital things are said on these subjects.
Discourses of Keidansky|Bernard G. Richards
Zionism, as a movement, has brought to fruition much of the latent love of the young Jew for his people and his religion.
A Jewish Chaplain in France|Lee J. Levinger
Indeed, until the time of Herzl all the most prominent protagonists of Zionism were Christians.
Notes on the Diplomatic History of the Jewish Question|Lucien Wolf
With the advent of Herzl, however, Zionism was no more a matter of domestic concern only.
The Jewish State|Theodor Herzl

British Dictionary definitions for Zionism

Zionism

/ (ˈzaɪəˌnɪzəm) /

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 forms of Zionism

Zionist, 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

Cultural definitions for Zionism

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.)