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sephardi

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Se⋅phar⋅dim

  [suh-fahr-dim, -fahr-deem]
Use sephardi in a Sentence
–plural noun, singular -di  [-dee, -dee] .
Jews of Spain and Portugal or their descendants, distinguished from the Ashkenazim and other Jewish communities chiefly by their liturgy, religious customs, and pronunciation of Hebrew: after expulsion from Spain and Portugal in 1492, established communities in North Africa, the Balkans, Western Europe, and elsewhere.
Origin:
1850–55; < ModHeb Səphāraddīm, pl. of Səphāraddī, equiv. to < Heb Səphāradh (region mentioned in Bible (Obadiah 20) and assumed to be Spain) + -ī suffix of appurtenance

Related forms:
Se⋅phar⋅dic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Se·phar·di   (sə-fär'dē)   
n.   pl. Se·phar·dim (-dĭm)
A descendent of the Jews who lived in Spain and Portugal during the Middle Ages until persecution culminating in expulsion in 1492 forced them to leave.

[Medieval Hebrew səpāraddî, Spaniard, from səpārad, Spain, adoption of Hebrew səpārad, placename of disputed location (mentioned at Obadiah 20).]
Se·phar'dic (-dĭk) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

Sephardim 
pl. of Sephardi "a Spanish or Portuguese Jew" (1851), from Mod.Heb. Sepharaddim "Spaniards, Jews of Spain," from Sepharad, name of a country mentioned only in Obad. v:20, probably meaning "Asia Minor" or a country in it (Lydia, Phrygia), but identified by the rabbis after Jonathan Targum as "Spain."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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