Semitic

American  

[suh-mit-ik] / səˈmɪt ɪk /

noun

1. a subfamily of Afroasiatic languages that includes Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician. Sem, Sem.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Semites or their languages.

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Jews; Jewish.

Semitic British  

/ sɪˈmɪtɪk /

noun

1. a branch or subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages that includes Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Amharic, and such ancient languages as Akkadian and Phoenician

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adjective

1. denoting, relating to, or belonging to this group of languages

2. denoting, belonging to, or characteristic of any of the peoples speaking a Semitic language, esp the Jews or the Arabs

3. another word for Jewish

Semitic Cultural  

1. A descriptive term for several peoples of the Middle East and their descendants, including Jews (see also Jews) and Arabs (see Arab-Israeli conflict). Today the term is mainly applied to Jews. (See anti-Semitism.)

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Other Word Forms

• half-Semitic adjective
• non-Semitic adjective
• pre-Semitic adjective
• pseudo-Semitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Semitic

First recorded in 1810–15; from New Latin Sēmīticus, equivalent to Sēmīt(a) “(a) Semite” + -icus adjective suffix; Semite, -ic

Example Sentences

Semitic men and women walked the desert with animals.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 18, 2025

“These minor errors indicate that the priest was not a native Greek speaker but likely someone from the region who was raised speaking a Semitic language,” he said in the statement.

From Washington Times • Sep. 27, 2023

And then shortly after that, we also found some passages written in an ancient Semitic language called Akkadian that is related to Hebrew and Arabic today.

From Scientific American • May 18, 2023

At some point, its people had adapted Sumerian cuneiform to their own language, which, like Akkadian, belonged to the Semitic family of languages, and archaeologists have discovered thousands of cuneiform tablets at the site.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

This is what drove Maimonides, the twelfth-century rabbi, to write a tome to reconcile the Semitic, Eastern Bible with the Greek, Western philosophy that permeated Europe.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife