Samaritan

[ suh-mar-i-tn ]
/ səˈmær ɪ tn /

noun

an inhabitant of Samaria.
good Samaritan.
(often lowercase) one who is compassionate and helpful to a person in distress.
any of the dialects of Aramaic spoken by the Samaritans in ancient Israel and until recently still spoken in Nablus.

adjective

pertaining to Samaria or to Samaritans.

Origin of Samaritan

before 1000; Middle English, Old English < Late Latin samarītānus < Greek samarī́t(ēs) dweller in Samaria + -ānus -an

OTHER WORDS FROM Samaritan

Sa·mar·i·tan·ism, noun

Words related to samaritan

do-gooder, humanitarian, Johnny-on-the-spot

Example sentences from the Web for samaritan

British Dictionary definitions for samaritan

Samaritan
/ (səˈmærɪtən) /

noun

a native or inhabitant of Samaria
short for Good Samaritan
a member of a voluntary organization (the Samaritans) which offers counselling to people in despair, esp by telephone
the dialect of Aramaic spoken in Samaria

adjective

of or relating to Samaria

Derived forms of Samaritan

Samaritanism, noun

Idioms and Phrases with samaritan

Samaritan

see good Samaritan.