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I was under the impression that "gentile" was a blanket term for all non-Jews. I was having a conversation with my great aunt, and referred to a Muslim as a gentile, and she claimed that "gentile" only refers to Christians.

What's the truth about this? Are Christians as well as Muslims, Hindus, etc. gentiles, or only Christians?

Is her view the truth, or simply a result of conversations with Jewish friends in which the word "gentile" comes up only being in reference to Christians? She is over 90 years old and is a lapsed Reform believer.

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  • This is a question of English, not Judaism, which is why it was closed as off-topic. Note the definition from Wikipedia: Gentile is an ethnonym that commonly means non-Jew – mbloch Apr 1 '18 at 4:27
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    I think one could say its about Judaism because its how a specific group of non-Jews are seen by Jews, but I'm not admin, just my 2 cents – AviG Apr 1 '18 at 22:18
  • @AviG Mods don’t rule this site. They’re just here to maintain it - it’s the community that runs it, though. – DonielF Apr 2 '18 at 14:01
  • Related (dupe?): judaism.stackexchange.com/q/77364/9682 – DonielF Apr 2 '18 at 14:03

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