Canaanite

American  

[key-nuh-nahyt] / ˈkeɪ nəˌnaɪt /

noun

1. a member of a Semitic people that inhabited parts of ancient Palestine and were conquered by the Israelites and largely absorbed by them.

2. a group of Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Phoenician, spoken chiefly in ancient Palestine and Syria.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Canaan, the Canaanites, or the Canaanite group of languages.

Canaanite British  

/ ˈkeɪnəˌnaɪt /

noun

1. a member of an ancient Semitic people who occupied the land of Canaan before the Israelite conquest

2. the extinct language of this people, belonging to the Canaanitic branch of the Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family

3. (in later books of the Old Testament) a merchant or trader (Job 40:30; Proverbs 31:24)

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Other Word Forms

• Canaanitic adjective
• Canaanitish adjective
• pre-Canaanite noun
• pre-Canaanitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Canaanite

1350–1400; Middle English ≪ Greek Kananī́tēs; Canaan, -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Scattered along the coast of the Levant were the great Canaanite commercial centers, which dispensed strategic and utilitarian raw materials and manufactured goods to the Aegean region and beyond.

From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2024

Thutmose III brought back a number of the sons of Canaanite kings after his campaigns, who were raised and educated in Egypt and learned Egyptian customs.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

The Canaanite alphabet is the world’s first alphabet, and it led to our modern alphabets.

From NewsForKids.net • Nov. 15, 2022

The lead researcher, Hebrew University archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel, told The Associated Press that while many artefacts bearing the Canaanite script have been found over the years, this is the first complete sentence to be discovered.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 9, 2022

The scarabs, oil lamp, mortars, and seal were all Canaanite.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler