Ishmaelite

Ish·ma·e·lite
I1S1H4M3A1E1L1I1T1E1
/ˈɪʃ.meɪ.əˌlaɪt//ˈɪʃ.meɪˌlaɪt/

noun

Any descendant of Ishmael.

Similar
child of Ishmael
Scrabble 15

Meanings

nounIshmaelite (plural Ishmaelites)

plural Ishmaelites

  1. broadlyAn outcast.
  2. derogatoryfigurativelyAn Arab Muslim.
    1 more example

    The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Shenute is not the oldest surviving work to allege that the Muslim “Ishmaelites” were interested in restoring the biblical Temple. That distinction belongs to the History of Sebeos, which, as we observed in chapter 2, portrays Jews as the driving force behind the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. This mid-seventh-century chronicle asserts that these Jews “decided to rebuild the Temple of Solomon. . . . But the Ishmaelites, being envious of them, expelled them from that place and called the same house of prayer their own.”

    2023 October 1, David M. Freidenreich, chapter 4, in Jewish Muslims: How Christians Imagined Islam as the Enemy, Oakland, California: University of California Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 70

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
child of Ishmael
Also see

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

Ishmaelite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ishmaelite

MLA

“Ishmaelite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ishmaelite. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ishmaelite,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ishmaelite.

Source: Ishmaelite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.