Meanings
- alternativeAlternative spelling of Ashkenazim.
Reform Judaism, which has been called “the folk religion of the German-American Jew,” represented a crisis in the longstanding linguistic and religious differences dividing Sephardim and Ashkanazim.
1999, Charles W. Joyner, Shared Traditions: Southern History and Folk Culture, University of Illinois Press, →ISBN, page 1903 more examples
[… A]s to the testimony of the ancients, Diodorus Siculus affirms that the Germans had their origin from the Cimmerians; and the Jews to this day called them Ashkanazim, or descendants of Ashkenaz, son of Gomer.
1841, Nicholas Patrick Wiseman, editor, The Dublin Review, page 281It is in the distribution of the Rh (rhesus) factor that the blood of the various Jewish communities of Europe shows some significant differences compared to their gentile neighbors — apparently due to an old core of Mediterranean ancestry among the Ashkanazim.
2002, Frank Heynick, Jews and Medicine: An Epic Saga, KTAV Publishing House, →ISBN, page 437, →ISBNBen-Gurion's legacy has been an enduring one. The projection of a national consensus, the domination of the state over other political actors, and the hegemony exercised over decision-making by a largely Ashkanazim élite remain features of Israeli politics today.
2002, Clive Jones, Emma Murphy, Israel: Challenges to Identity, Democracy, and the State, Routledge, →ISBN, page 27
Origin
Identical with Ashkenazim, but spelt closer to the Hebrew transliteration of אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים (ashkanazím).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Ashkanazim. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ashkanazim
“Ashkanazim.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ashkanazim. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ashkanazim,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ashkanazim.
Source: Ashkanazim on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.