zion
/ˈzaɪ.ən/ noun, proper noun
Forms zions Sion
- noun zayin, Hebrew letter ז.
- proper noun (biblical) A hill in West Jerusalem, in Israel, on which ancient Jerusalem was partly built; a centrepiece to Biblical accounts of old days and future eschatological events.
- proper noun (poetic) Jerusalem city proper; or more strictly speaking, the Temple Mount.
- proper noun (by extension) The whole nation of Israel.
- proper noun A male given name from Hebrew.
- proper noun A female given name.
- proper noun (Mormonism) An association of the righteous.
- proper noun A city and township in Lake County, Illinois, United States.
- proper noun A national park of the United States, located in Utah.
Synonyms
Mount Zion Moriah Mount of myrrh Sion Israel State of Israel Yisrael Utopia
Etymology
From Hebrew ז.
From Middle English Sion, from Old English Syon, from Ecclesiastical Latin Sīōn, from Koine Greek Σῑών (Sīṓn), from Biblical Hebrew צִיּוֹן (ṣiyyôn). Initial Z- was likely under influence from Early New High German Zion, itself influenced by the Ashkenazi pronunciation /t͡s/.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A hill in Jerusalem, which, after the capture of that city by the Israelites, became the royal residence of David and his successors.
- noun Hence, the theocracy, or church of God.
Etymology [Heb. tsiy, originally, a hill.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “zion”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details