Definitions

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

  • noun The monotheistic religion of the Jews, tracing its origins to Abraham and having its spiritual and ethical principles embodied chiefly in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Talmud.
  • noun Conformity to the traditional ceremonies and rites of the Jewish religion.
  • noun The cultural, religious, and social practices and beliefs of the Jews.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The religious system and polity of the Jews, as enjoined in the laws of Moses.
  • noun Conformity to the Jewish rites and ceremonies.
  • noun A Jewish quarter or Jewry.

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

  • proper noun The religious doctrines and rites of the Jews as enjoined in the laws of Moses, and for many adherents, in the Talmud.
  • proper noun Conformity to the Jewish rites and ceremonies; the practise of Judaism{1}.
  • proper noun The adherents of Judaism{1} collectively; jewry.

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

  • noun A world religion tracing its origin to the Hebrew people of the ancient Middle-East, as documented in their religious writings, the Torah or Old Testament.

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

  • noun the monotheistic religion of the Jews having its spiritual and ethical principles embodied chiefly in the Torah and in the Talmud
  • noun Jews collectively who practice a religion based on the Torah and the Talmud

Etymologies

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

[Middle English Iudaisme, from Old French Judaisme, from Late Latin Iūdaismus, from Greek Ioudaismos, from Ioudaios, Jew; see Jew.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Hebrew יְהוּדָה (Yehuda, "Judah") +‎ -ism (from Latin).

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