anti-Semitism

== English == === Alternative forms === antisemitism, anti-semitism === Etymology === From German Antisemitismus. It is typically said that German political agitator Wilhelm Marr invented the term to replace Judenhaß (literally “Jew-hatred”) to make hatred of the Jews seem rational and sanctioned by scientific knowledge; Marr founded the Antisemitenliga ("Anti-Semites' League") in 1879, used the terms Semitismus and Antisemiten in his 1879 and 1880 pamphlets Der Sieg des Judenthums über das Germanenthum and Der Weg zum Siege des Germanenthums über das Judenthum, and used Antisemitismus at least as early as his 1885 pamphlet Lessing contra Sem. The related term antisemitisch (“anti-semitic”) was first used in 1860, by Jewish scholar Moritz Steinschneider. See Wikipedia's article on the etymology and usage of the term. The term is superficially/synchronically equivalent to anti- +‎ Semitism (see Semite), for which reason it is rarely extended to cover prejudice against any Semitic people, or against adherents of any of the religions that originated among the Semitic peoples (the Abrahamic religions). See the usage notes. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˌæntɪˈsɛmɪˌtɪzəm/, /ˌæntiˈsɛmɪˌtɪzəm/, /ˌæntaɪˈsɛmɪˌtɪzəm/ === Noun === anti-Semitism (countable and uncountable, plural anti-Semitisms) (narrower sense) Prejudice, discrimination, hostility or political or religious opposition directed against ethnic or religious Jews or against Judaism; antijudaism; judeophobia. Synonyms: anti-Jewishness, anti-Jewism, anti-Judaism, antijudaism, Jew-hate, Jew-hatred, Jewhatred, Jewmania, Judeophobia Antonyms: anti-anti-Semitism, Jewmania, Judeophilia (broader sense, rare, nonstandard, often proscribed, chiefly in anti-Israel discourse) Prejudice, discrimination or hostility directed against any Semitic people (ancient or modern), such as Samaritans, Palestinians, Arabs or Assyrians. Hyponyms: anti-Jewishness, anti-Jewism, anti-Judaism, Jewhatred, Judeophobia, anti-Arabism, Arabophobia, anti-Palestinianism, anti-Samaritanism, anti-Assyrianism ==== Usage notes ==== Though Semitic refers in a broader sense to all those who speak Semitic languages (including e.g. Arabs and Assyrians), the term anti-Semitism has historically referred to prejudice against Jews alone. To avoid the confusion of the misnomer, many scholars of the subject (such as Emil Fackenheim) now favor the unhyphenated antisemitism in order to emphasize that the word should be read as a single unified term, not as a meaningful root word-prefix combination. (See Wikipedia's article on the etymology and usage of the term.) Use of the term to refer to prejudice against any Semitic people is rare and nonstandard. Some use the term to hatred/prejudice against speakers of Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, or any other Semitic language, as well as ethnic and religious groups associated with these languages. A very small number of writers use the term to refer to prejudice against Muslims, apparently considering them to constitute a Semitic race as opposed to only a religion. See citations. Spelling has shifted from “anti-Semitism” to “antisemitism” in the 2020s. ==== Synonyms ==== anti-Semiticism ==== Antonyms ==== philo-Semitism, philosemitism pro-Semitism, prosemitism ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === See also === anti-Zionism Islamophobia; anti-Sunnism, anti-Shi'ism nationalism; tribalism; racism; xenophobia === References ===