Samaritan
adj, name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A native, or inhabitant of Samaria; especially one practising certain ethnoreligious traditions indigenous to that region.
"Many of these despised people built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim in the central Palestinian territory known as Samaria, and hence they were called Samaritans (a word of contempt to Jews); in very reduced numbers, they still live round their sacred mountain now."
- 2 a Good Samaritan
- 3 a member of the people inhabiting Samaria in biblical times wordnet
- 4 A charitable person, one who helps others (from the Bible story in Luke 10:30–37).
- 5 A person who works for the Samaritans telephone helpline, taking calls from suicidal members of the public. UK
- 1 Of, or relating to Samaria or Samaritans. not-comparable
- 1 The ancient language of Samaria: a dialect of Hebrew.
Example
More examples"A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him."
Etymology
From Latin Samarītānus, from Ancient Greek Σαμαρείτης (Samareítēs), from Σαμαρεία (Samareía, “Samaria”), derived from Biblical Hebrew שֹׁמְרוֹנִים (Šōmərôním) and שֹׁמְרוֹן (Šōmərôn) respectively. Attested in Old English.
Related phrases
More for "samaritan"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.