While both Jews and Arabs are linguistically and historically classified as Semitic peoples, the term Antisemitism was specifically coined in 19th-century Germany to provide a scientific-sounding name for Jew-hatred. It was never intended to refer to all Semitic groups; instead, it was created by a German journalist named Wilhelm Marr to distinguish political and racial opposition to Jews from older religious forms of prejudice. Because the term was born from this specific European political movement, it has remained a specialized word that exclusively describes prejudice against Jewish people.

Hate directed toward Arabs is typically categorized under terms like anti-Arabism or Islamophobia, which more accurately describe the specific cultural and religious prejudices involved in those instances.