This subpage is intended to demonstrate the basis and rationale for the "correction" (change) of spellings in various Wikipedia articles to reflect the definitive consensus amongst reliable sources as to the proper spelling of the various forms of anti−Semitic (antisemitic). It is clear that, while both the hyphenated and non-hyphenated forms of the word are commonly used; the hyphenated format is, by far, the more common and would appear to be the most accurate English spelling of the word. As the collation of data indicates, roughly 94% of reliable sources show hyphenation as the proper form; and even in the general population of web sources, 71% properly hyphenate the term.
Dictionary Sources
Dictionary.com
Note: Alternating letter capitalization (eXaMpLe) in search links below is intended to clearly identify this site's straight repetition of entered searched word before the listing of definition(s).
- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aNtIsEmItE {See Note above}
- an⋅ti-Sem⋅ite
- noun
- a person who discriminates against or is prejudiced or hostile toward Jews.
- Origin:
- 1880-85
- Related forms
- an⋅ti-Se⋅mit⋅ic, adjective
- an⋅ti-Se⋅mit⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
- Dictionary.com Unabridged
- Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.
- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aNtIsEmItIc {See Note above}
- an⋅ti-Sem⋅ite
- noun
- a person who discriminates against or is prejudiced or hostile toward Jews.
- Origin:
- 1880-85
- Related forms
- an⋅ti-Se⋅mit⋅ic, adjective
- an⋅ti-Se⋅mit⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
- Dictionary.com Unabridged
- Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.
- antisemitic
- adjective
- relating to or characterized by anti-Semitism; hating Jews
- WordNet(R) 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aNtI-SeMiTiC {See Note above}
- an⋅ti-Sem⋅ite
- noun
- a person who discriminates against or is prejudiced or hostile toward Jews.
- Origin:
- 1880-85
- Related forms
- an⋅ti–Se⋅mit⋅ic, adjective
- an⋅ti–Se⋅mit⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
- Dictionary.com Unabridged
- Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.
- World English Dictionary
- anti-Semitic
- - adj
- prejudiced against or hostile to Jews
- Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
- 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
- Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aNtIsEmItIsM {See Note above}
- an⋅ti-Sem⋅i⋅tism
- noun
- discrimination against or prejudice or hostility towards Jews.
- Origin: 1880-85
- Dictionary.com Unabridged
- Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.
- World English Dictionary
- anti-Semite
- – n
- a person who persecutes or discriminates against Jews
- anti-'Semitism
- – n
- Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
- 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
- Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
- Word Origin & History
- anti-Semitism
- also antisemitism, 1881, from Ger. Antisemitismus, first used by Wilhelm Marr (18191904) Ger. radical, nationalist, and race-agitator, who founded the Antisemiten-Liga in 1879; from anti- + Semite (q.v.). Not etymologically restricted to anti-Jewish theories, actions or policies, but most always used in this sense. Those who object to the inaccuracy of the term might try H. Adler's Judaeophobia (1882) Anti-Semitic (also antisemitic) and anti-Semite (also antisemite) also are from 1881, like anti-Semitism first in an article in the "Athenaeum" of Sept. 31, in ref. to German literature.
- Online Etymology Dictionary, © Douglas Harper
Merriam-Webster
- anti-Semitism
- :hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group
- — an⋅ti–Se⋅mit⋅ic adjective
- — an⋅ti–Sem⋅ite noun
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
- anti-Semitic
- adjective
- having or showing a strong dislike of Jewish people, or treating them in a cruel and unfair way
- anti-Semitic propaganda
- anti-Semitic remarks
- anti-Semite noun
- an anti-Semitic person
- He was a virulent anti-Semite.
- (Definition of anti-Semitic adjective from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
- anti-Semitism
- noun
- the strong dislike or cruel and unfair treatment of Jewish people
- Nazi anti-Semitism forced him to emigrate to the USA.
- (Definition of anti-Semitism noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
- NOTE: According to Cambridge Dictionaries Online (Cambridge University Press) (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/), there are only two (root) words, in the combined dictionaries of both British and American English, beginning with "antis" that are not hyphenated; and those are: "antiseptic" and "antistatic".
- Again, according to Cambridge, there are in fact only 4 American English (root) words which begin with "anti" and do not contain a hyphen; and that complete list is: "antibiotic", "anticipate", "antique", and "antiseptic". (Apparently neither "antistatic" nor "anti−static" are words in American English, at least according to Cambridge.)
Princeton University - WordNet 3.1
- Adjective
- S: (adj) anti-semitic, antisemitic (relating to or characterized by anti-Semitism; hating Jews)
- Noun
- S: (n) anti-Semitism, antisemitism (the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people)
- Noun
- S: (n) anti-Semite, Jew-baiter (someone who hates and would persecute Jews)
- Adjective
- S: (adj) racist, antiblack, anti-Semite (discriminatory especially on the basis of race or religion)
Web Hits
| Search of: | anti-Semite | antisemite | anti-Semitic | antisemitic | anti-Semitism | antisemitism | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliable Sources [1] | 2K | 63 | 241K | 2K | 384K | 40K | ||||||
| 94% hyphenated | Search | 97% | Search | 3% | Search | 99% | Search | 1% | Search | 91% | Search | 9% |
| Strictly RS [2] | 1K | 53 | 194K | 1K | 355K | 32K | ||||||
| 94% hyphenated | Search | 95% | Search | 5% | Search | 99% | Search | 1% | Search | 92% | Search | 8% |
| Unfiltered [3] | 134K | 18K | 562K | 84K | 609K | 136K | ||||||
| 85% hyphenated | Search | 88% | Search | 12% | Search | 87% | Search | 13% | Search | 82% | Search | 18% |
| Google [4] | 1,540,000 | 1,690,000 | 6,200,000 | 1,250,000 | 9,040,000 | 3,920,000 | ||||||
| 71% hyphenated | Search | 48% | Search | 52% | Search | 83% | Search | 17% | Search | 70% | Search | 30% |
All searches conducted with all normal upper- & lower-case formats of each word form: (e.g. Search for "anti-Semite" consists of search criteria ("anti-semite" OR "anti-Semite" OR "Anti-semite" OR "Anti-Semite" OR "ANTI-SEMITE") in each search engine catagory.)
<References>
- ^ Reliable Sources: Reflects a {{blekko}} search with slashtag /wprs/rs; conducting a search of all identified web sites in the colleges, news (includes all Television, Radio, Daily, Weekly, & Magazine news sources), eBooks, National Labs, and Supreme Court as of August 14th, 2011.
- ^ Strict RS: Reflects a {{blekko}} search using slashtag /wprs/strict which includes strictly colleges, news, and Supreme Court as of August 14th, 2011.
- ^ Unfiltered: This reflects all sites in the {{blekko}} database matching the search query (i.e. all Web hits excluding known datafarms and spam sites) as of August 14th, 2011.
- ^ Google results indicate the number of hits for unrestricted global searches of the world wide web for the indicated forms as of August 14th, 2011.