Dictionary

Marrano en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /məˈɹɑːnəʊ/ (UK)

Etymology

From Spanish marrano, of disputed origin. Perhaps a transferred use of marrano (“hog”), but many sources regard them as distinct words. Doublet of Muharram.

Meanings

1. (Judaism, historical) Any of the Sephardi Jews who stayed in Iberia during the Spanish Inquisition, and continued to practice Judaism in secret.
   • Look at the Crypto-Jews, the Marranos, who for centuries lived a double life, outwardly Christians, but handing down secretly from generation to generation the faith, the traditions, the observances of Judaism. 1914, Israel Zangwill, Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People:
   • In the Portuguese universities, the Marranos had studied logic, physics, medicine and mathematics, but they had no expertise in the more intuitive disciplines of Jewish practice. 1999, Karen Armstrong, The Case for God, Vintage, published 2010, page 161:

Forms

Deriveds

Marranism · Marranic

Relateds

Anusim

Synonyms

crypto-Jew · converso

Translations (5)

es marrano (Iberian Jew who practised Judaism in secret) · fr marrane (Iberian Jew who practised Judaism in secret) · he אָנוּס (Iberian Jew who practised Judaism in secret) · ca marrà (Iberian Jew who practised Judaism in secret) · pt marrano (Iberian Jew who practised Judaism in secret)