Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of an ancient Semitic people claiming descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; an Israelite.
  • noun A descendant of this people; a Jew.
  • noun The Semitic language of the ancient Hebrews.
  • noun Any of the various later forms of this language, especially the language of the Israelis.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A member of that branch of the Semitic family of mankind descended, according to tradition, from Heber, the great-grandson of Shem, in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; an Israelite; a Jew.
  • noun The language spoken by the Hebrews, one of the northern or Canaanitic divisions of the Semitic family of languages.
  • Of or pertaining to the Hebrews; Hebraic: as, the Hebrew language or rites.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An appellative of Abraham or of one of his descendants, esp. in the line of Jacob; an Israelite; a Jew.
  • noun The language of the Hebrews; -- one of the Semitic family of languages.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the Hebrews.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the Hebrew people or language.
  • noun A member or descendant of a Semitic people claiming descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
  • noun A descendant of the biblical Patriarch Eber.
  • proper noun The Semitic language spoken by the Hebrew people.
  • proper noun The writing system used in Hebrew language.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or relating to or characteristic of the Hebrews
  • noun a person belonging to the worldwide group claiming descent from Jacob (or converted to it) and connected by cultural or religious ties
  • noun the ancient Canaanitic language of the Hebrews that has been revived as the official language of Israel
  • adjective of or relating to the language of the Hebrews

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English Ebreu, from Old French, from Latin Hebraeus, Hebraic, from Greek Hebraios, from Aramaic ‘ibrāy, from Hebrew ‘ibrî.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English Ebreu, from Old French Ebreu, from Latin hebraeus or hebraicus, from Ancient Greek Ἑβραῖος (hebraios), from Aramaic  ('ibrāy), from Hebrew עברי (ivrí), from Hebrew עבר (ever).

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