israel
n. countablen. a country in Western Asia on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a place with a very long history and is important to many different religions.
n. a sovereign state in Western Asia, situated on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. In a literary or biblical context, it refers to the Hebrew people or the land promised to them.
Many people travel to Israel to visit historical sites.
The delegation flew to Israel to participate in an international conference on water conservation technology.
Scholars of the ancient Near East often examine how the kingdom of Israel interacted with its neighbors through trade and military alliances during the Iron Age.
From Middle English Israel, from Old English, borrowed from Latin Israel, from Ancient Greek Ἰσραήλ (Israḗl), from Hebrew יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra'él, “Israel”). In the Bible, it is said to be from the name יִשְׂרֶה אֵל (yisré 'él) given to Jacob in he:T:29, after which his descendants came to be known as Israelites and their land as the "kingdom/land of Israel". The personal name, already attested in Eblaite 𒅖𒊏𒅋 (iš-ra-il) and Ugaritic 𐎊𐎌𐎗𐎛𐎍 (yšrỉl), has been variously translated as "he wrestles with God", "he prevails with God", or "God rules" (possibly from the same root ש־ר־ה/ש־ר־ר as שָׂרָה (“Sarah”)). Line 27 of the Merneptah Stele (from about 1200 B.C.E.) is thought to contain the earliest attestation of the name Israel in any language, Egyptian ysrjꜣr. : i-i-z:Z1sZ1s:r-i-A-r:Z1T14-A1*B1:Z2 Doublet of Yisroel.
As a proper noun, it is typically used without an article unless followed by a restrictive modifier.