Hamito-Semitic

[ ham-i-toh-suh-mit-ik ]

adjective, noun
  1. (no longer in technical use) Afroasiatic.

Origin of Hamito-Semitic

1
First recorded in 1865–70; Hamit(ic) + -o- + Semitic

word story For Hamito-Semitic

In the Middle Ages, all the peoples known to Europeans were believed to be descendents of one of Noah’s three sons—peoples of Africa from Ham, peoples of the Middle East from Shem, and peoples of Europe from Japheth. A large language family found across much of North Africa and some parts of the Middle East eventually became known as “Hamito-Semitic,” after Ham and Shem. That designation is no longer in technical use because the so-called “Hamitic” languages don't actually form a single group within the “Hamito-Semitic” family of languages, which are now called the Afroasiatic languages.

Words Nearby Hamito-Semitic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for Hamito-Semitic

Hamito-Semitic

noun
  1. a former name for Afro-Asiatic (def. 1)

adjective
  1. denoting or belonging to this family of languages

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012