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--- In [log in to unmask], Andreas Johansson <andjo@F...> wrote: > I'm afraid this is terribly OT, but I figure this is the place I can ask with > the highest chance of someone actually knowing the answer. > > In an online discussion, the origin of the word 'anti-semitism' came up. It's > clearly a poorly chosen term, since it doesn't denote hostility towards > Semites in general, but specifically towards Jews (who don't necessarily speak > any Semitic language!). Indeed, these days, the label is very commonly applied > to Semitic-speaking Arabs. Does anyone know when the word was coined, and > whether there's some comprehensible reason that this misleading formation was > chosen? > > Andreas from http://www.etymonline.com anti-Semitism - 1881, from Ger. Antisemitismus, first used by Wilhelm Marr in 1880, from anti- + Semite (q.v.). Not etymologically restricted to anti-Jewish theories, actions or policies, but almost always used in this sense. Those who object to the inaccuracy of the term might try H. Adler's Judaeophobia (1882). David Barrow