Semitic
noun
a subfamily of Afroasiatic languages that includes Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician. Sem, Sem.
pre-Semitic
-
a word derived from
Semitic.
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.
Among the most interesting of recent discoveries at Nippur are pre-Semitic tablets containing accounts similar to those recorded in the book of Genesis, from which in some cases the latter have clearly been derived.
From Man, Past and Present by Alfred Court Haddon
It went back to the pre-Semitic age of Chaldæa, and the great temples of Babylonia were largely supported by the esra or tithe which was levied upon prince and peasant alike.
From Patriarchal Palestine by A. H. (Archibald Henry) Sayce
Were the pre-Semitic Elamites originally speakers of an agglutinative language, like the Sumerians and present-day Basques, who were conquered in prehistoric times by a people of Aryan speech?
From Myths of Babylonia and Assyria by Donald Alexander Mackenzie
For example, the canalization of Mesopotamia gives us the ancient pre-Semitic Babylonian state, while the extremely ancient Egyptian civilization rests upon the application of the Nile to agriculture.
From Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History by Antonio Labriola
In the Sumerian or pre-Semitic language of Chaldæa eri signified a "city," and eri in the pronunciation of the Semites became uru.
From Patriarchal Palestine by A. H. (Archibald Henry) Sayce
