Jewess

J8E1W4E1S1S1
/ˈd͡ʒuː.ɛs//d͡ʒuːˈɛs/

noun

A female Jew.

UncommonFirst used 14th c.Scrabble 16

Meanings

nounJewess (plural Jewesses)

plural Jewesses

  1. datedhumorousA female Jew.First known use 14th c.

    You really are a high-class Jewess, lemme tell ya.

    2015, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Knockoffs (Broad City), season 2, episode 4, spoken by Bobbi Wexler (Susie Essman), via Comedy Central
    3 more examples

    And the prominent, if not indeed the principal, part in the system of terrorism applied by the Extraordinary Commissions for Combating Counter-Revolution has been taken by Jews, and in some notable cases by Jewesses.

    1920, Winston Churchill, Zionism versus Bolshevism

    To whom did Ivanhoe tip his lance in gallantry today? To a Jewess named Rebecca, daughter of Isaac, the banker of his tribe. What could he want of the Jews except money for the ransom?

    1952, Ivanhoe

    As for Wahram V (Gur), the Zoroastrian Persians could see him as a legitimate ruler and the Jews would see him as a Jewish king. After all, he was Jewish since his mother was a Jewess.

    2009, Touraj Daryaee, Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire, London: I.B.Tauris, →ISBN, page 78

Origin

  1. Old Frenchjuiesse
  2. Middle EnglishJewesse
  3. EnglishJewess

From Middle English Jewesse, from Old French juiesse, juise; equivalent to Jew + -ess.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic يَهُودِيَّة
  • يَهُودِيَّة (yahūdiyya)female Jew
Bulgarian евре́йка
  • евре́йка (evréjka)female Jew
Catalan jueva
  • juevafemale Jew
Chinese Mandarin 猶太人 /犹太人
  • 猶太人 /犹太人 (yóutàirén)female Jew
Czech Židovka
  • Židovkafemale Jew
Danish jødinde
  • jødindefemale Jew
Dutch jodin
  • jodinfemale Jew
Esperanto judino
  • judinofemale Jew
Estonian juuditar
  • juuditarfemale Jew
Finnish juutalaisnainen
  • juutalaisnainenfemale Jew
French Juive, juive
  • Juivefemale Jew
  • juivefemale Jew
German Jüdin
  • Jüdinfemale Jew
Greek Ιουδαία
  • Ιουδαία (Ioudaía)female Jew
Hebrew יהודיה \ יְהוּדִיָּה
  • יהודיה \ יְהוּדִיָּה (yehudiyá)female Jew
Hindi यहूदिनी
  • यहूदिनी (yahūdinī)female Jew
Hungarian zsidó
  • zsidófemale Jew
Italian giudea, ebrea
  • giudeafemale Jew
  • ebreafemale Jew
Japanese ユダヤ人
  • ユダヤ人 (yudayajin)female Jew
Korean 유대인, 유태인
  • 유대인 (yudaein)female Jew
  • 유태인 (yutaein)female Jew
Latin iūdaea
  • iūdaeafemale Jew
Latvian ebrejs
  • ebrejsfemale Jew
Norwegian Bokmål jødinne
  • jødinnefemale Jew
Persian یهودی
  • یهودی (yahudi)female Jew
Polish Żydówka
  • Żydówkafemale Jew
Portuguese judia
  • judiafemale Jew
Romanian evreică
  • evreicăfemale Jew
Russian евре́йка, жидо́вка
  • евре́йка (jevréjka)female Jew
  • жидо́вка (židóvka)female Jew
Slovak Židovka
  • Židovkafemale Jew
Spanish judía
  • judíafemale Jew
Swedish judinna
  • judinnafemale Jew
Turkish Musevi, Yahudi
  • Musevifemale Jew
  • Yahudifemale Jew
Ukrainian євре́йка, жидо́вка
  • євре́йка (jevréjka)female Jew
  • жидо́вка (žydóvka)female Jew
Urdu یہودنی
  • یہودنی (yahūdinī)female Jew
Vietnamese người Do Thái
  • người Do Tháifemale Jew
Welsh Iddewes
  • Iddewesfemale Jew
Yiddish ייִדישקע, ייִדיש־קינד
  • ייִדישקע (yidishke)female Jew
  • ייִדיש־קינד (yidish-kind)female Jew
  • בת־ישׂראל (bas-yisroel)female Jew
  • ייִדישע טאָכטער (yidishe tokhter)female Jew
Cite this entry
APA

Jewess. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jewess

MLA

“Jewess.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jewess. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Jewess,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Jewess.

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