Semitics
- the study of Semitic languages, literature, etc.
Origin of Semitics
Semitic
- a subfamily of Afroasiatic languages that includes Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician.
- of or relating to the Semites or their languages, especially of or pertaining to the Jews.
Origin of Semitic
Examples from the Web for semitics
Historical Examples of semitics
They again were probably not Semitics but of the Aryan race.
After having occupied for twenty years the chair of Semitics at the university of Leipzig, he retired to Prostnitz.
Some Jewish Witnesses For ChristRev. A. Bernstein, B.D.
Sufficient evidence goes to show that they worshipped many gods in the beginning, as did other Semitics.
These Semitics remembered their old allies, now in the desert, and besought them for aid.
Semitics
- (functioning as singular) the study of Semitic languages and culture
Semitic
less commonly Shemitic
- 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
- denoting, relating to, or belonging to this group of languages
- denoting, belonging to, or characteristic of any of the peoples speaking a Semitic language, esp the Jews or the Arabs
- another word for Jewish
Word Origin and History for semitics
Semitic
1797, denoting the language group that includes Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian, etc.; 1826 as "of or pertaining to Semites," from Medieval Latin Semiticus (source of Spanish semitico, French semitique, German semitisch), from Semita (see Semite). As a noun, as the name of a linguistic family, from 1813. In non-linguistic use, perhaps directly from German semitisch. In recent use often with the specific sense "Jewish," but not historically so limited.
Semitic
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.)