ashkenazi

Thân thiện

An Ashkenazi family gathers to light the Hanukkah menorah.

Definition

Noun: A Jew whose family origins and cultural traditions are from Central or Eastern Europe, historically associated with the development of the Yiddish language and distinct religious customs.

Usage

The term is used to denote a major ethnocultural division within the Jewish people, often contrasted with Sephardic Jews. - My great-grandparents were Ashkenazi, having emigrated from Poland in the early 1900s. - Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities sometimes have different pronunciations of Hebrew and different culinary traditions.

Advanced Usage

• Ashkenazi can function attributively (like an adjective) to describe cultural, linguistic, or genetic traits associated with this group.
  • She follows Ashkenazi customs for the Passover seder.
  • Certain genetic disorders are more prevalent in the Ashkenazi population.

Variants and Related Words

• Ashkenazic (adjective): Pertaining to Ashkenazi Jews or their culture, liturgy, or customs.
  • The Ashkenazic pronunciation of Hebrew is common in American synagogues.

Synonyms

• Eastern European Jew (descriptive synonym, though less precise for historical origins in the Rhineland).
• Yiddish-speaking Jew (historical/cultural descriptor, though not all Ashkenazi Jews today speak Yiddish).

Different Meanings

The term Ashkenazi is specific and does not have widely divergent meanings. Its core meaning is tied to Jewish ethnocultural and geographic lineage. It is not used as a verb or in idioms.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a Jew of eastern European or German descent

Từ đồng nghĩa

• ashkenazi