Phoenician
Americannoun
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a native or inhabitant of Phoenicia.
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the extinct Semitic language of the Phoenicians.
adjective
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of or relating to Phoenicia, its people, or their language.
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noting or pertaining to the script used for the writing of Phoenician from the 11th century b.c. or earlier and from which were derived the Greek, Roman, and all other Western alphabets.
noun
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a member of an ancient Semitic people of NW Syria who dominated the trade of the ancient world in the first millennium bc and founded colonies throughout the Mediterranean
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the extinct language of this people, belonging to the Canaanitic branch of the Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Phoenician
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at Phoenicia, -an
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
David Sassine, Aliph’s project manager in Beirut, was recently dispatched to Tyre, the archaeological site in southern Lebanon that’s famous for its history as a Phoenician maritime hub and for its production of purple dye.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
In antiquity, the city of Tyre was at various times Phoenician, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine.
From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026
A couple of weeks ago, while out for drinks with a friend, I casually mentioned that I was looking forward to seeing the new Wes Anderson movie, “The Phoenician Scheme.”
From Salon • May 22, 2025
The image Anderson envisioned for Del Toro in “The Phoenician Scheme” evoked the panache of Italian film producers in stylish suits and sunglasses — the likes of Dino De Laurentiis or Carlo Ponti.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2025
Ahmad taught him how to spear a fish, how to row a boat alone, how to dive from the great Phoenician stones on the islands southern wall.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
