Semitic

Meaning

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Of or pertaining to a subdivision of Afroasiatic Semitic languages: Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Syriac, Akkadian, Hebrew, Maltese, Tigrigna, Phoenician etc.
2. (not-comparable) Of or pertaining to the Semites; of or pertaining to one or more Semitic peoples.
3. (not-comparable) Of or pertaining to the Semites; of or pertaining to one or more Semitic peoples.
4. (not-comparable) Of or pertaining to the Semites; of or pertaining to one or more Semitic peoples.
5. (not-comparable) Of or pertaining to the Semites; of or pertaining to one or more Semitic peoples.

Name

The Semitic languages in general.

Synonyms

Semite

Akkadian

Maltese

🇲🇹

Syriac

Shemitic

Translations

sémitique

Semitisch

semitisch

semítico

Sémites

σημιτικός

semítico

سامي

sémite

Semitisch

schemitisch

سامية

semitico

semita

Pronounced as (IPA)

/səˈmɪt.ɪk/

Etymology

From Semite + -ic (18th century), from German semitisch, from Ancient Greek Σήμ (Sḗm), from the Hebrew שֵׁם (Šēm, “Shem”), the name of the eldest son of Noah in biblical tradition (Genesis 5.32, 6.10, 10.21), considered the forefather of the Semitic peoples. Perhaps derived from Akkadian 𒈬 (šumu, literally “name" or "son”). The word was coined and first applied to the Semitic languages by August Ludwig von Schlözer in 1781.