late 12c. (in plural, giwis), from Anglo-French iuw, Old French giu, from Latin Iudaeum (nominative Iudaeus), from Greek Ioudaios, from Aramaic jehudhai (Hebrew y'hudi) "Jew," from Y'hudah "Judah," literally "celebrated," name of Jacob's fourth son and of the tribe descended from him. Replaced Old English Iudeas "the Jews." Originally, "Hebrew of the kingdom of Judah."
Jews' harp "simple mouth harp" is from 1580s, earlier Jews' trump (1540s); the connection with Jewishness is obscure. Jew-baiting first recorded 1853, in reference to German Judenhetze. In uneducated times, inexplicable ancient artifacts were credited to Jews, based on the biblical chronology of history: such as Jews' money (1570s) "Roman coins found in England." In Greece, after Christianity had erased the memory of classical glory, ruins of pagan temples were called "Jews' castles," and in Cornwall, Jews' houses was the name for the remains of ancient tin-smelting works.
jew (v.)
"to cheat, to drive a hard bargain," 1824, from Jew (n.) (compare gyp, welsh, etc.). The campaign to eliminate it in early 20c. was so successful that people began to avoid the noun and adjective, too, and started using Hebrew instead.
Now I'll say 'a Jew' and just the word Jew sounds like a dirty word and people don't know whether to laugh or not. [Lenny Bruce (1925-1966)]
实用例句
1. He was born a Jew in first century Palestine.
他是出生于1世纪巴勒斯坦的犹太人.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. Shylock, the Jew, lived at Venice: he was an usurer.
犹太人夏洛克住在威尼斯,他是个放印子钱的人.
来自辞典例句
3. He was a jounalist, a brilliant intellectual, and a Jew.
他是记者, 一位有才能的知识分子, 他是个犹太人.
来自辞典例句
4. This Italian Jew situation called for a persuasive diplomat.
这个意大利犹太人的问题需要有个会哄的外交家来处理.
来自辞典例句
5. Augie, like his author, is a Jew, born among the immigrant poor.
