Jew
UK[dʒuː]US[dʒuː]
n
A member of the people and cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism and who trace their origins through the ancient Hebrew people of Israel to Abraham.
Etymology
The word 'Jew' has a long historical journey, originating from the Hebrew name 'Yəhūḏāh' (Judah), one of the twelve tribes of Israel and later a kingdom. Through Aramaic and Greek, it entered Latin as 'Iudaeus', meaning a person from the land of Judah. In Old French, it became 'giu' or 'jueu', which was borrowed into Middle English. The term's core meaning evolved from a geographical and tribal identifier to denote a member of the religious and cultural community descended from the ancient Israelites, irrespective of specific tribal origin.
Analysis
The word is a simplex loanword. It entered English from Anglo-French (Giue, Jue), derived from Latin Iudaeus, from Greek Ioudaios, from Aramaic Yəhūḏāy, and ultimately from Hebrew Yəhūḏāh (Judah), the name of a kingdom and tribe.
Examples
She is a practicing Jew who observes the Sabbath.
The history of the Jew in medieval Europe is complex and often tragic.
The museum exhibit highlights the contributions of the American Jew to science and the arts.