Samaritan

Sa·mar·i·tan

noun \sə-ˈmer-ə-tən\

Definition of SAMARITAN

1

: a native or inhabitant of Samaria

2

[from the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:30–37] : a person who is generous in helping those in distress

— samaritan adjective often capitalized

Examples of SAMARITAN

1. A Samaritan called a tow truck for us.

Origin of SAMARITAN

Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin samaritanus, noun & adjective, from Greek samaritēs inhabitant of Samaria, from Samaria

First Known Use: before 12th century

Samaritan

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Member of a now nearly extinct Jewish community. Calling themselves Bene-Yisrael (“Children of Israel”) or Shamerim (“Observant Ones”), they claim to be related to those Jews of ancient Samaria who were not deported from Israel by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) is their sole norm of religious observance. Jews who returned to their homeland after the Babylonian Exile would not accept their help in building the Second Temple of Jerusalem. Consequently, in the 4th century BC the Samaritans built their own temple in Nablus, at the base of Mount Gerizim, in the present-day West Bank. The modern population (about 500 persons) is distributed between Nablus and the city of Holon in Israel. All live in semi-isolation, marrying only within their own community. They pray in Hebrew but have adopted Arabic as their vernacular.