Definition of "Ashkanazim"

[… A]s to the testimony of the ancients, Diodorus Siculus affirms that the Germans had their origin from the Cimmerians; and the Jews to this day called them Ashkanazim, or descendants of Ashkenaz, son of Gomer.

1841, Nicholas Patrick Wiseman, editor, The Dublin Review‎, page 281

Reform Judaism, which has been called “the folk religion of the German-American Jew,” represented a crisis in the longstanding linguistic and religious differences dividing Sephardim and Ashkanazim.

1999, Charles W. Joyner, Shared Traditions: Southern History and Folk Culture, University of Illinois Press, page 190

It is in the distribution of the Rh (rhesus) factor that the blood of the various Jewish communities of Europe shows some significant differences compared to their gentile neighbors — apparently due to an old core of Mediterranean ancestry among the Ashkanazim.

2002, Frank Heynick, Jews and Medicine: An Epic Saga, KTAV Publishing House, page 437

Ben-Gurion's legacy has been an enduring one. The projection of a national consensus, the domination of the state over other political actors, and the hegemony exercised over decision-making by a largely Ashkanazim élite remain features of Israeli politics today.

2002, Clive Jones, Emma Murphy, Israel: Challenges to Identity, Democracy, and the State, Routledge, page 27