Hittite

American  

[hit-ahyt] / ˈhɪt aɪt /

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.

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adjective

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

Hittite British  

/ 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

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adjective

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

Other Word Forms

• post-Hittite
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Hittite

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

Example Sentences

Archaeological digs for Hittite antiquities aimed to provide the new republic with a past rooted even more deeply than Greece and Italy.

From New York Times • May 25, 2023

The agreement confirmed Hittite control of Syria and Egyptian dominance over the Phoenician ports of the eastern Mediterranean.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

The Mycenaean kingdoms in Greece and the Hittite kingdom in Anatolia suffered greatly and collapsed.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

For instance, ancient Egyptian inscriptions tell us that the “Sea Peoples” destroyed the Hittite Empire and numerous kingdoms in the Levant to the north of Egypt.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

These, like most of the rock-panels, are all marked as Hittite by accompanying pictographic inscriptions.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 5 "Hinduism" to "Home, Earls of" by Various