In the Bible, עדה

refers to a community. So does קהל

, which today we use to mean audience – while קהילה

is the modern word for community.

Over the generations, עדה

came to refer to a group of people of a particular ethnicity.

For example:

בשכונת נחלאות בירושלים יש בתי כנסת של עדות שונות ומוצאים שונים.

In the Jerusalem neighborhood of Nachlaot there are synagogues of various ethnicities and origins.

Another term for ethnic origin borrows from English: מוצא אתני

.