A former city of west-central Israel on the Mediterranean Sea. An ancient Phoenician city, it was taken by the Israelites in the 6th century A.D. and later fell to the Arabs (636), Crusaders (12th century), and Ottoman Turks (16th century). Yafo was inhabited mainly by Arabs until the state of Israel was proclaimed in 1948. Since 1950 the city has been part of Tel Aviv-Yafo.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
