Jezebel
/ˈd͡ʒɛzəˌbɛl/ proper noun, noun
Forms Jezebels
- proper noun (biblical) The Phoenician princess and Queen of Ancient Israel who appears in the Old Testament (1 Kings & 2 Kings), and who incited heresy and lured the Jews away from their God and back to idols.
- noun (slang, derogatory) A woman who is evil, scheming, shameless, or immoral. “She’s an absolute Jezebel!”
- noun Any of various pierid butterflies of the genus Delias.
Etymology
Borrowed from Hebrew אִיזֶבֶל ('izével).
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [From Jezebel, Heb. Izebel, the wife of Ahab king of Israel.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Jezebel”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details