Ashkenazi
Syllables: Ash·ke·na·ziUK/ˌæʃkɪˈnɑːzi//ˌɑːʃkɪˈnɑːzi/
Ashkenazi adjective: of or relating to Jews of German origin, and their traditions, customs, and rituals. Their traditional vernacular is Yiddish, and they historically dominated Jewish life in Europe north of the Mediterranean, in contrast to the Sephardim.
Adjective (1)
Ashkenazi (comparative more Ashkenazi, superlative most Ashkenazi)
- Of or relating to Jews of German origin, and their traditions, customs, and rituals. Their traditional vernacular is Yiddish, and they historically dominated Jewish life in Europe north of the Mediterranean, in contrast to the Sephardim.
- The book significantly extends on Rosenstein’s monumental 1990 work, “The Unbroken Chain,” which focused on the genealogies of the major Ashkenazi rabbinic dynasties from medieval times to the present.2004 October 24, Bill Gladstone, “The oldest family in the world”, in Jewish Telegraphic Agency, archived from the original on 28 Sep 2021
- Synonyms:
- Ashkenazic
Noun (1)
Ashkenazi (plural Ashkenazim or Ashkenazis or Ashkenazi)
- An Ashkenazi Jew.
Proper noun
Ashkenazi (plural Ashkenazis)
- A surname from Hebrew.
Adjective (2) capitalized: AshkeNazi
AshkeNazi (comparative more AshkeNazi, superlative most AshkeNazi)
- Alternative form of Ashke-Nazi.
Noun (2) capitalized: AshkeNazi
AshkeNazi (plural AshkeNazis)
- Alternative form of Ashke-Nazi.
Ashkenazi meaning in Arabic and Persian
Ashkenazi in Arabic
- of, or relating to Jews of German origin
- أَشْكِنَازِيّ ʔaškināziyy
- Jew of German origin
- أَشْكِنَازِيّ ʔaškināziyy
Ashkenazi in Persian
- of, or relating to Jews of German origin
- اشکنازی aškenâzi
- Jew of German origin
- اشکنازی aškenâzi
Synonyms of Ashkenazi
Forms of Ashkenazi
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more Ashkenazi |
| superlative | most Ashkenazi |
| comparative | more AshkeNazi |
| superlative | most AshkeNazi |
| Noun | |
| plural | Ashkenazim |
| plural | Ashkenazis |
| plural | Ashkenazi |
| plural | AshkeNazis |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Ashkenazis |
Origin of Ashkenazi
Borrowed from Hebrew אַשְׁכְּנַזִּי ('ashk'nazí), from Biblical Hebrew אַשְׁכְּנַז (ʾaškənaz). The biblical Ashkenaz was the son of Gomer, the grandson of Japheth, and the great-grandson of Noah. Ashkenaz's descendants were identified with the Germans by medieval Jewish tradition. Ashkenaz was also the name used for the Rhine river, which was the starting point of central and eastern European settlement by Jews, who are thought to have arrived in the region from Italy, and then spread east as they fled violent oppression and followed more favorable ownership laws. By surface analysis, Ashkenaz + -i.
Words formed from Ashkenazi
Questions about Ashkenazi
- What does Ashkenazi mean?
- Ashkenazi means of or relating to Jews of German origin, and their traditions, customs, and rituals. Their traditional vernacular is Yiddish, and they historically dominated Jewish life in Europe north of the Mediterranean, in contrast to the Sephardim.
- What is Ashkenazi in Arabic?
- Ashkenazi in Arabic is أَشْكِنَازِيّ (ʔaškināziyy). See Ashkenazi meaning in Arabic.
- What part of speech is Ashkenazi?
- Ashkenazi can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce Ashkenazi?
- Ashkenazi is pronounced /ˌæʃkɪˈnɑːzi/ (UK).
Words near Ashkenazi in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Ashkenazi (page history and authors); AshkeNazi (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Ashkenazi.wav.
Cite this entry: “Ashkenazi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ashkenazi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.