Hebrew

How to spell hebrew

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce hebrew

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hebrew mean?

1. nounThe Semitic language of the Jewish people, or a member of the ancient people who spoke it.
2. adjectiveRelating to the Hebrew language, people, or culture.

Hebrew in a sentence

• noun

  She studied hebrew for two years before reading the original scriptures.

• adjective

  The professor specialised in hebrew poetry from the biblical era.

• noun

  The museum displayed a scroll written entirely in ancient hebrew.

• adjective

  She enrolled in a hebrew class to read the texts unaided.

Where does hebrew come from?

Language of origin: Hebrew

This word names both an ancient people and their Semitic language, and it travelled a long way to reach its modern English form. It goes back to the Hebrew word 'Ivri', which many scholars connect with a root meaning 'to cross over' or 'one from the other side', perhaps describing people who came from beyond a river. Greek turned this into 'Hebraios', Latin reshaped it as 'Hebraeus', and Old French smoothed it further into 'Ebreu' before it entered English in the medieval period. The spelling we use today, with its 'H' restored and the closing '-ew', reflects deliberate later efforts to bring the form back toward its classical and biblical roots. That history is exactly why the silent-looking 'H' and the unusual '-ew' ending feel awkward: they are echoes of the Greek and Latin stages rather than a plain English spelling.

How the word is built

• Hebr- (from Hebraios, the people and their language)
• -ew (English form of the Latin/Greek ending)