Hittite

[ hit-ahyt ]

noun

1. a member of an ancient people who established a powerful empire in Asia Minor and Syria, dominant from about 1900 to 1200 b.c.
2. an extinct language of the Anatolian branch of Indo-European, preserved in cuneiform inscriptions of the second millennium b.c. Compare Hieroglyphic Hittite.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Hittites or their language.

Hittite

/ ˈhɪtaɪt /

noun

1. a member of an ancient people of Anatolia, who built a great empire in N Syria and Asia Minor in the second millennium bc
2. the extinct language of this people, deciphered from cuneiform inscriptions found at Boǧazköy and elsewhere. It is clearly related to the Indo-European family of languages, although the precise relationship is disputed

adjective

1. of or relating to this people, their civilization, or their language

Other Words From

• post-Hittite adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hittite¹

1600–10; < Hebrew ḥitt ( īm ) Hittite (compare Hittite Khatti ) + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Maybe you can tell the Ecuadorians that Israel deserves Hebron because Abraham bought land there from Ephron the Hittite.

From The Daily Beast

Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite and thy mother a Hittite.

From Project Gutenberg

Probably a young Hittite with indifferent teeth proclaimed that his desire was to fight the Amalekites and not to eat them.

From Project Gutenberg

The Egyptian power was falling to pieces, and Palestine was threatened by Hittite invaders from the north.

From Project Gutenberg

In the Hittite system of hieroglyphic writing, the boot with upturned end occupies a prominent place.

From Project Gutenberg

The highlands of Cappadocia and the ranges of the Taurus seem to have been the cradle of the Hittite race.

From Project Gutenberg