Meanings
plural Zionisms
- countableuncountablegovernmentJewish nationalism, the movement which supported first the establishment of a Jewish homeland and now supports the continuation of Israel as a Jewish state.
A version of Zionism from the 1940s might perhaps have coexisted with an equal Palestinian state, but its mature version, fed by military victories and unwavering American support, no longer can.
2019 July 15, Greg Afinogenov, “The Jewish Case for Open Borders”, in Jewish Currents, number Summer 2019, archived from the original on 16 Jul 20191 more example
These investigations indicate that although a large proportion of American Jews call themselves Zionists, their meanings of Zionism are closer to what some investigators have called pro-Israelism. According to the still common Israeli definition of a Zionist as one who views the Diaspora negatively and considers the settlement of Jews in Israel as essential, the vast majority of American Jews would not be considered Zionists.
1996, Gal Allon, Allon Gal, Jerold S. Auerbach, Envisioning Israel: The Changing Ideals and Images of North American Jews, page 151 - countableuncountableA religion practiced throughout sub-Saharan Africa, most popular in Swaziland, consisting of a mixture of Protestantism and animism.
- countableuncountableA Christian eschatological concept that links the migration of Jews to Palestine with apocalyptic events.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna movement of world Jewry that arose late in the 19th century with the aim of creating a Jewish state in Palestine
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Biblical Hebrewצִיּוֹן (ṣiyyôn)
- Koine GreekΣῑών (Sīṓn)
- LatinSīōn
- Old EnglishSyon
- Middle EnglishSion
- Early New High GermanZioninflu.
- EnglishZion
- GermanZionismus
- EnglishZionism
From Zion + -ism, calqued in analogy to German Zionismus, coined by Nathan Birnbaum in 1890.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic صَهْيُونِيَّة, صِهْيُونِيَّة
- صَهْيُونِيَّة (ṣahyūniyya)Jewish nationalist movement
- صِهْيُونِيَّة (ṣihyūniyya)Jewish nationalist movement
- صُهْيُونِيَّة (ṣuhyūniyya)Jewish nationalist movement
- صِهْيَوْنِيَّة (ṣihyawniyya)Jewish nationalist movement
Bengali সিয়োনবাদ
- সিয়োনবাদ (śiẏōnbad)Jewish nationalist movement
Bulgarian циони́зъм
- циони́зъм (cionízăm)Jewish nationalist movement
Catalan sionisme
- sionismeJewish nationalist movement
Chinese Mandarin 猶太復國主義 /犹太复国主义, 錫安主義 /锡安主义
- 猶太復國主義 /犹太复国主义 (Yóutài-fùguózhǔyì)Jewish nationalist movement
- 錫安主義 /锡安主义 (Xī'ān-zhǔyì)Jewish nationalist movement
Czech sionismus
- sionismusJewish nationalist movement
Danish zionisme
- zionismeJewish nationalist movement
Dutch zionisme
- zionismeJewish nationalist movement
Esperanto cionismo
- cionismoJewish nationalist movement
Estonian sionism
- sionismJewish nationalist movement
Finnish sionismi
- sionismiJewish nationalist movement
French sionisme
- sionismeJewish nationalist movement
German Zionismus
- ZionismusJewish nationalist movement
Greek σιωνισμός
- σιωνισμός (sionismós)Jewish nationalist movement
Hebrew ציונות \ צִיּוֹנוּת
- ציונות \ צִיּוֹנוּת (tsiyonút)Jewish nationalist movement
Hindi यहूदीवाद, सियोनवाद
- यहूदीवाद (yahūdīvād)Jewish nationalist movement
- सियोनवाद (siyonvād)Jewish nationalist movement
- सीयनीज़म (sīyanīzam)Jewish nationalist movement
Hungarian cionizmus
- cionizmusJewish nationalist movement
Irish Siónachas
- SiónachasJewish nationalist movement
Italian sionismo
- sionismoJewish nationalist movement
Japanese シオニズム
- シオニズム (shionizumu)Jewish nationalist movement
Korean 시오니즘, 시온주의
- 시오니즘 (sionijeum)Jewish nationalist movement
- 시온주의 (sionjuui)Jewish nationalist movement
Latvian cionisms
- cionismsJewish nationalist movement
Lithuanian sionizmas
- sionizmasJewish nationalist movement
Malay zionisme
- zionismeJewish nationalist movement
Norwegian Bokmål sionisme
- sionismeJewish nationalist movement
Persian صهیونیسم
- صهیونیسم (sahyunism)Jewish nationalist movement
Polish syjonizm
- syjonizmJewish nationalist movement
Portuguese sionismo
- sionismoJewish nationalist movement
Romanian sionism
- sionismJewish nationalist movement
Russian сиони́зм
- сиони́зм (sionízm)Jewish nationalist movement
Slovak sionizmus
- sionizmusJewish nationalist movement
Spanish sionismo
- sionismoJewish nationalist movement
Swahili Uzayuni
- UzayuniJewish nationalist movement
Swedish sionism
- sionismJewish nationalist movement
Tagalog Sayonismo
- SayonismoJewish nationalist movement
Thai ไซออนิสต์
- ไซออนิสต์ (sai-ɔɔ-nít)Jewish nationalist movement
Turkish siyonizm, siyonculuk
- siyonizmJewish nationalist movement
- siyonculukJewish nationalist movement
Ukrainian сіоні́зм
- сіоні́зм (sionízm)Jewish nationalist movement
Urdu صہیونیت, صیہونیت
- صہیونیت (sahyuniyat)Jewish nationalist movement
- صیہونیت (saīhūniyat)Jewish nationalist movement
Vietnamese chủ nghĩa Xi-ôn, chủ nghĩa Xi-ôn-nít
- chủ nghĩa Xi-ônJewish nationalist movement
- chủ nghĩa Xi-ôn-nítJewish nationalist movement
- chủ nghĩa phục quốc Do TháiJewish nationalist movement
Welsh Seioniaeth
- SeioniaethJewish nationalist movement
Yiddish ציעניזם, ציוניזם
- ציעניזם (tsienizm)Jewish nationalist movement
- ציוניזם (tsienizm)Jewish nationalist movement
Cite this entry
Zionism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zionism
“Zionism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zionism. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Zionism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zionism.
Source: Zionism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.