anti-Semitism

From German Antisemitismus. It is typically said that German political agitator Wilhelm Marr invented the term to replace Judenhaß (literally “Jew-hatred”) to make hatred of the Jews seem rational and sanctioned by scientific knowledge; Marr founded the Antisemitenliga ("Anti-Semites' League") in 1879, used the terms Semitismus and Antisemiten in his 1879 and 1880 pamphlets Der Sieg des Judenthums über das Germanenthum and Der Weg zum Siege des Germanenthums über das Judenthum, and used Antisemitismus at least as early as his 1885 pamphlet Lessing contra Sem. The related term antisemitisch (“anti-semitic”) was first used in 1860, by Jewish scholar Moritz Steinschneider. See Wikipedia's article on the etymology and usage of the term.

The term is superficially/synchronically equivalent to anti- +‎ Semitism (see Semite), for which reason it is rarely extended to cover prejudice against any Semitic people, or against adherents of any of the religions that originated among the Semitic peoples (the Abrahamic religions). See the usage notes.