Hamitic

American  

[ha-mit-ik, huh-] / hæˈmɪt ɪk, hə- /

noun

1. (especially formerly) the non-Semitic branches of the Afroasiatic language family.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Hamites or Hamitic.

Hamitic British  

/ hæˈmɪtɪk, hə- /

noun

1. a group of N African languages related to Semitic. They are now classified in four separate subfamilies of the Afro-Asiatic family: Egyptian, Berber, Cushitic, and Chadic

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adjective

1. denoting, relating to, or belonging to this group of languages

2. denoting, belonging to, or characteristic of the Hamites

Other Word Forms

• non-Hamitic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Hamitic

First recorded in 1880–85; Hamite + -ic

Example Sentences

The majority of the people are of the Eastern Hamitic family mixed with cultured Himyaritic Semites from South Arabia.

From Time Magazine Archive

A proud people, tall, lithe' and fine-featured, the Somalis are Hamitic in origin, descended in part from 7th century Arabs who crossed into Africa from Yemen.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was usual formerly to speak of Japhetic, Hamitic and Semitic languages.

From Lectures on The Science of Language by Müller, Max

A theory by the author, by which he conceives the Indian race to be descended from the ancient Cuthites, who are Hamitic.

From Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers by Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

I do not propose to embark at this late hour on what ethnologists know as the "Hamitic" problem.

From Legends of Babylon and Egypt in relation to Hebrew tradition by King, L. W. (Leonard William)