Words, 1860–1881
Where the words in these arguments came from, who coined them and who argues over them.
4 events, 1 flagged blank, 2 open questions. Add an event
- From 1860Missing a language: The word in Arabic and Hebrew
How Arabic writing renders the word (معاداة السامية) and Hebrew (אנטישמיות), when each language took it up, and the argument made in Arabic that Arabs are Semites too. None of it is on the timeline yet.
- 1860date uncertainSteinschneider writes of “antisemitische Vorurteile”
In 1860 the scholar Moritz Steinschneider, criticising a book by Ernest Renan, accused Renan of antisemitische Vorurteile, “antisemitic prejudices”. It is the earliest use of the word recorded on this timeline.
Origins1 source1 independent root - 1860–1879Nothing recorded for 18 years. Add what happened
- 1879date uncertainThe word “Antisemitismus” enters German politics
In 1879 the noun Antisemitismus came into political use in Germany around Wilhelm Marr, who is widely credited with coining it to name campaigns against Jews. A Forward column says the credit is mistaken because the word was in use earlier. The sources here agree that it was only ever aimed at Jews.
Origins5 sources5 independent roots1 open question - Late March 1879date uncertainMarr publishes “The Victory of Jewry over Germandom”
The journalist Wilhelm Marr’s pamphlet Der Sieg des Judenthums über das Germanenthum appeared in late March 1879 and went through 12 editions that year.
Origins2 sources2 independent roots - 1879 or 1881date uncertainMarr’s Antisemites’ League
Marr founded an Antisemites’ League. The Encyclopaedia Judaica has him recruiting members for it in the last 1879 edition of his pamphlet; a Forward column dates its founding to 1881. The league brought the word “antisemite” into political use.
Origins3 sources3 independent roots1 open question