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Glite Dictionary
🌍 Related to languages 🗣️ A language group
Semitic

Semitic

5 7.9
Relating to languages and people like Hebrew, Arabic, and Amharic
  • adjective
  • /səˈmɪtɪk/
translation icon : semítico
  • The archaeologists uncovered artifacts from a Semitic civilization that once thrived in the region.
  • Semitic languages
  • Semitic peoples
  • Semitic studies

Grand Uncle George Gammel Angle, professor emeritus of Semitic languages.

Examples

  • Akkadian, a Semitic language distantly related to the modern Arabic now spoken there, gradually replaced Sumerian as Ur's language.

    Academic text (2011)

  • All three religions spring from the same Semitic people, living in the Middle East and Arabia.

    Blog text (19)

  • Hebrew and Arabic are both Semitic languages.

    Academic text (2008)

  • It's not necessary to be of Semitic ancestry in order to be a Jew.

    Blog text (1)

  • I could see the basic similarities between the three Semitic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

    Blog text (19)

  • Excavators found a walled and guarded settlement, which supported a large Semitic population.

    Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus (2015)

  • - We do know that there was a large Semitic-speaking population, probably came in from Syria, Canaan sometime in the early part of the second millennium BC.

    Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus (2015)

  • The professor specializes in Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Arabic.

  • Many ancient texts have revealed insights into Semitic cultures and their traditions.

Synonyms

Semite
vsSemitic
9.6

Relating to groups of people from the Middle East and North Africa and their languages

focuses more on languages and cultures rather than mainly the people
Shemite
vsSemitic
9.9

Relating to people and languages from the Middle East, like Hebrew and Arabic

does not stress a biblical ancestor, focusing on languages and cultures

Compounds

Hamito-Semitic
  • Archaic
9.9

A group of related languages spoken in North Africa and southwest Asia, like Arabic and Hebrew

Semitic deity
9.9

A god or goddess worshipped long ago by groups such as the Babylonians and Hebrews

Surface Forms

Semitic positive

Morphology

Semitic = Semite (transparent) = Semit + ic

The adjective is a regular formation from 'Semite' with '-ic', meaning 'relating to Semites' and by extension their languages and cultures.

Etymology

The word Semitic comes from the biblical name Shem, who was thought to be the ancestor of many Middle Eastern peoples. So Semitic describes languages, peoples, or cultures like Arabic, Hebrew, and Amharic.