Reference

Glossary

Dotted terms across the atlas open short definitions. This page gives the fuller, sourced wording and notes where a label changes meaning across periods or communities.

Diaspora

Jewish diaspora refers here to Jewish communities living outside the Land of Israel. Its history includes forced displacement, migration, trade, and durable communities built voluntarily abroad, so diaspora should not be treated as a synonym for exile alone.¹

Ashkenazi

A Jewish historical and cultural tradition formed in medieval northern France and the Rhineland and later expanded across Central and Eastern Europe. Ashkenazim is the plural form.²Read the related atlas account

Sephardi

Historically, Sephardi denotes Jews whose ancestry comes from the Iberian Peninsula, or Sepharad. In common usage it is sometimes applied more broadly to Jews of non-Ashkenazi origin, so the broader label should not be assumed to mean Iberian descent.³Read the related atlas account

Mizrahi

A modern umbrella label for Jews and their descendants originating in Muslim and Arab countries. The communities grouped under the term have distinct local histories and may describe their identities more specifically.⁴

Ladino

One of several names for Judeo-Spanish, also called Judezmo, maintained by descendants of Iberian Jews after their expulsions. Major speech communities developed in the Ottoman Empire, with smaller populations in North Africa and Italy.⁵Read the related atlas account

Yiddish

A Germanic Jewish language with major Hebrew-Aramaic and Slavic components, historically written in the Hebrew alphabet and spoken by Ashkenazi communities across Europe and later diasporas.⁶Read the related atlas account

Aliyah

Hebrew for “ascent”; the term commonly refers to Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel.⁷

Pogrom

Collective violence commonly used in Jewish history for anti-Jewish attacks, often involving killing, assault, and looting. The term became widespread after the 1881–1882 violence in the Russian Empire, but it has been applied to events that differed greatly in organization and scale.⁸

Converso

An Iberian Jew who converted to Christianity, or a descendant identified with that converted population. Some conversos maintained Jewish practices, while others did not; the label alone is not evidence of secret adherence.⁹

Dhimmi

A non-Muslim with legally recognized standing under many premodern Muslim polities. The status generally allowed communal religious practice and offered protection in return for accepting Muslim rule and a special tax; legal disabilities and lived conditions varied by place and period.¹⁰

Autosomal DNA

DNA on the numbered chromosomes rather than the sex chromosomes.¹¹ Population studies use autosomal markers to estimate genome-wide ancestry patterns, but no single population descriptor fully describes an individual or group.¹²

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)

The small chromosome inside mitochondria, inherited from one's mother. Mitochondrial DNA can trace the direct maternal line, which is one lineage among a person's many ancestors.¹³

Y-DNA

Y-chromosome DNA passed from father to son. Its variants can be used to construct a paternal lineage tree, which traces one direct line rather than all of a person's ancestry.¹⁴

Founder effect

Reduced genomic diversity that can occur when a small group separates from a larger population and becomes the basis of a new population.¹⁵

Admixture

Genetic ancestry produced through contact between populations that had previously been differentiated. Statistical models can estimate proportions and dates, but the results depend on samples, reference populations, and the chosen model.¹⁶