From Hebrew אַשְׁכְּנַזִּים (ashk'nazím), plural of אַשְׁכְּנַזִּי (ashk'nazí), from אַשְׁכֲּנַז (ashk'naz, “Ashkenaz”), son of Gomer, grandson of Japheth, and great-grandson of Noah, mythical progenitor of the Ascanians of Phrygia, and later, in mediaeval times, identified with the Germans.