Midianite

American  

[mid-ee-uh-nahyt] / ˈmɪd i əˌnaɪt /

noun

1. a member of an ancient desert people of northwest Arabia near the Gulf of Aqaba, believed to have descended from Midian.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Midianites.

Etymology

Origin of Midianite

Midian + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

After all, Moses was born Jewish, adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in the Egyptian palace, then lived as a Midianite shepherd for many decades of his adult life.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026

Note that Gideon's visit to the Midianite camp was on 'the same night' on which his little band was left alone after the ordeal by water.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and First Book of Samuel, Second Samuel, First Kings, and Second Kings chapters I to VII by Maclaren, Alexander

The Midianite had said that the host was delivered into Gideon's hand; he says that it is delivered into the hands of the three hundred, suppressing himself and honouring them.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and First Book of Samuel, Second Samuel, First Kings, and Second Kings chapters I to VII by Maclaren, Alexander

But Midianite tribes had also pushed northwards and mingled with the descendants of Ishmael.

From Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations by Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)

The view of the eastern or Midianite coast was even more varied and suggestive.

From The Land of Midian — Volume 1 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir