Himyarite

[him-yuh-rahyt]

noun

1. one of an ancient people of southern Arabia speaking a Semitic language.

2. a descendant of these people.

adjective

1. Himyaritic.

Himyarite

/ ˈhɪmjəˌraɪt /

noun

1. a member of an ancient people of SW Arabia, sometimes regarded as including the Sabeans

adjective

1. of or relating to this people or their culture

Word History and Origins

Origin of Himyarite¹

1835–45; < Arabic ḥimyar (name of a tribe and an old dynasty of Yemen) + -ite ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of Himyarite¹

C19: named after Himyar legendary king in ancient Yemen

Example Sentences

The regional museum of Dhamar in the southwest, which contained thousands of artifacts from the Himyarite Kingdom, was completely destroyed.

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He was the first, in his letters on the history of the Arabs before Islamism, published in 1836, to explain the Himyarite or Homeric language and to recognize that it resembles rather the early Hebrew and Syriac dialects, than the Arabic of the present day.

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Who knew what ancient idols, what Himyarite inscriptions, what trinkets of gold, might not be found there?

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The Himyarite Arabs, as I have shown, derived their name originally from their red color, and they were constantly depicted on the Egyptian monuments as red or light brown.

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It belonged to the Himyarite Tobba, Amru bin Ma'ad Kurb, and came into the hands of Harun al-Rashid.

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