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Glite Dictionary
Sephardi

Sephardi

1 9.1
A Jewish person whose family comes from Spain, Portugal, or North Africa
  • noun
  • /səˈfɑrdi/
translation icon : sefardí
  • In the inn, there was a Sephardi emissary from Jerusalem who had been sent to Europe to collect money for the poor of Jerusalem.

Examples

  • Another social rift, the Ashkenazi-Sephardi cleavage, has also become much less divisive than in the past.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Then one day, the Sephardi suddenly announced to the other guests what had been revealed to him in a dream: even though he was hale and hearty and not yet forty years of age, he was soon to die, and therefore he was cutting short his journey and returning to Jerusalem.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The number of Sephardi politicians at the local and national levels has increased significantly alongside a similar growth in their ranks within the senior officers of the IDF.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The Sephardi emissary, in his strange Hebrew, asked him confidentially which combination of letters forming the Holy Name he had used in his secret prayer.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, Beta Israel all share a fair amount of genetic similarity.

    Blog text (19)

  • The prevalent explanation for this hawkish Sephardi tendency is the discrimination and persecution experienced by the Sephardi Jewish communities in their host Arab countries.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The main cleavages are ethnic (Sephardi-Ashkenazi) and the degrees of religiosity.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The IDF is also a great leveler, as seen here, as young women soldiers of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Ethiopian backgrounds mix easily.

    Academic text (2013)

  • What is really ironic is that she is a Sephardi, and the group is something of an Ashkenazi mafia (only 5% of Israeli university professors are Sephardi, for example).

    Blog text (17)

  • Many Sephardi Jews take pride in their rich cultural heritage, which includes unique traditions and languages.

Synonyms

Jew
vsSephardi
123 2.4

A person who follows the religion Judaism or has Jewish ancestors

is a specific group defined by Spanish Portuguese or North African ancestry and historical expulsion
Sephardic Jew
vsSephardi
1 7.1

A person of Jewish background whose family comes from Spain, Portugal, or North Africa

is identical in meaning but used as a shorter single word form
Sephardic
vsSephardi
1 7.7

A Jewish person whose family came from Spain or Portugal

is broader and includes North African descent and late fifteenth century expulsion

Surface Forms

Sephardi singular
Sephardim plural

Etymology

The word Sephardi comes from the old Hebrew place name Sepharad, meaning 'Spain'. So, Sephardi originally meant 'a person from Spain', and today it names Jews with roots in Spain, Portugal, and North Africa.