Marrano

(redirected from Marranos)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia.
Related to Marranos: Conversos

Mar·ra·no

 (mə-rä′nō)
n. pl. Mar·ra·nos Offensive
Used as a disparaging term for a Converso.

[Spanish, pig, Marrano (from the Jewish prohibition against eating pork), probably from Arabic maḥram, something forbidden, from ḥarama, to forbid; see x̣rm in Semitic roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Marrano

(məˈrɑːnəʊ)
n, pl -nos
(Judaism) a Spanish or Portuguese Jew of the late Middle Ages who was converted to Christianity, esp one forcibly converted but secretly adhering to Judaism
[from Spanish, literally: pig, with reference to the Jewish prohibition against eating pig meat]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Mar•ra•no

(məˈrɑ noʊ)

n., pl. -nos.
a Spanish or Portuguese Jew forced to convert to Christianity during the late Middle Ages.
[< Sp: literally, pig, from the Jewish law forbidding the eating of pork]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.Marrano - (medieval Spain and Portugal) a disparaging term for a Jew who converted to Christianity in order to avoid persecution but continued to practice their religion secretly
Converso - (medieval Spain and Portugal) a Jew or Moor who professed to convert to Christianity in order to avoid persecution or expulsion
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
References in periodicals archive ?
Howbeit, some of them (Marranos) retained their Jewish (Sephardic) surnames.
Many Christians though claimed that the conversos had really not converted to Christianity at all and were in fact marranos or the "damned" or "swine." As the fifteenth century progressed, Christians in Spain demanded an investigation to determine if the Spanish Jews were conversos or marranos.
The Other Within: The Marranos: Split Identity and Emerging Modernity.
In Spanish they were often called conversos or marranos; in Hebrew, "Bnei Anousim," literally the "Children of the Forced."
For example, the introduction overviews the complications and complexities of Jewish conversion from the Renaissance to the contemporary Jew, yet the definition of Marranos as converts "who secretly practice Judaism" (2) is too hasty since the label was applied liberally and derogatorily to Converses (Jews who had converted to Christianity) regardless of their practice.
By turning Muslims into Moriscos (converted Muslims) and Jews into Marranos (converted Jews), their memory, knowledge and spirituality were destroyed (cultural genocide).
This is, for example, how the Marranos, who were once Jews, emerged after they were forced to deny their real religion in public - until, generations later, they were no longer either Jewish or Christian.
The report explains, point by point, that the condemnation of Barros Basto is justified, evaluated, and motivated by religious intolerance and antisemitc prejudice: "Barros Basto was separated from the Army due to a general atmosphere of animosity against him motivated by the fact of being Jewish, not covering it up, and instead exhibiting an energetic proselytism, converting Portuguese Jewish Marranos and their descendants."
It grew out of the Casa Shalom Institute for Marrano and Anusim Studies whose director, Gloria Mound, has helped the descendants of marranos become re-acquainted with the Jewish portion of their identity by organizing Passover celebrations and other events in Majorca, home of a considerable marrano/converso community.