a Jew of Spanish, Portuguese, or North African descent
b.
(loosely) any Oriental Jew
2.
the pronunciation of Hebrew used by these Jews, and of Modern Hebrew as spoken in Israel
3. (modifier)
of or pertaining to the Sephardim, esp to their liturgy and ritual
4. (modifier)
of or pertaining to the liturgy adopted by certain European, esp Chassidic, communities who believe it to be more authentic but nonetheless differing from the genuine Oriental liturgy
Compare Ashkenazi
Derived forms
Sephardic (Seˈphardic)
adjective
Word origin
C19: from Late Hebrew, from Hebrew sepharad a region mentioned in Obadiah 20, thought to have been Spain
a member of the group of Jews that lived in Spain and Portugal before the Inquisition and, after expulsion, in the Ottoman Empire, Middle East, and N Africa
2.
a descendant of this group
see also Ashkenazi
Derived forms
Sephardic (Seˈphardic)
adjective
Word origin
Heb sefaradi, after sefarad, a region mentioned in Ob. 20, often identified with Spain, but prob. orig. an areain Asia Minor