Israel

Israel are the Hebrew people descended from Jacob of the Bible.

(noun)

An example of Israel is people of the Jewish faith.

Israel is a country between Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.

(noun)

An example of Israel is where Tel Aviv is located.

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See Israel in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. a masculine name: dim. Izzy
  2. Bible Jacob: so named after wrestling with the angel: Gen. 32:28
  3. the Jewish people, as descendants of Jacob

Origin: OFr < LL(Ec) < Gr Israēl < Heb yisrael, lit., contender with God < sara, to wrestle + el, God

  1. ancient land of the Hebrews at the SE end of the Mediterranean
  2. kingdom in the N part of this region, formed (10th cent. ) by the ten tribes of Israel that broke with Judah & Benjamin
  3. country between the Mediterranean Sea & Jordan: established (1948) as a Jewish state according to the United Nations plan (1947) partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states: 8,463 sq mi (21,919 sq km); pop. 4,038,000; cap. Jerusalem

See Israel in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. Bible
    a. Jacob.
    b. The descendants of Jacob.
  2. Judaism The Hebrew people, past, present, and future, regarded as the chosen people of God by virtue of the covenant of Jacob.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Old English

Origin: , from Latin

Origin: , from Greek Israēl

Origin: , from Hebrew yiśrā’ēl, God has striven, God has saved

Origin: : yiśrā, he has striven, saved; see śry in Semitic roots

Origin: + ’ēl, God; see אl in Semitic roots

.

  1. An ancient kingdom of Palestine founded by Saul c. 1025 B.C. After 933 it split into the Northern Kingdom, or kingdom of Israel, and the kingdom of Judah to the south. Israel was overthrown by the Assyrians in 721.
  2. A country of southwest Asia on the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It was established in 1948 following the British withdrawal from Palestine, which had been divided by recommendation of the United Nations into Jewish and Arab states. Discord with neighboring Arab countries that had rejected the UN partition led to numerous wars, notably in 1948-1949, 1956-1957, 1967, and 1973. In the Six-Day War of 1967 Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem's Old City, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. The Golan Heights and Jerusalem were later annexed, and the Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982. A 1993 Israeli-Palestinian accord granted limited Palestinian autonomy in the Gaza Strip, and a similar accord calling for Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank was signed in 1994. Jerusalem is the capital and Tel Aviv-Yafo the largest city. Population: 6,430,000.

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