Sinai

American  

[sahy-nahy, sahy-nee-ahy] / ˈsaɪ naɪ, ˈsaɪ niˌaɪ /

noun

1. Also called Sinai Peninsula.  a peninsula in northeastern Egypt, at the northern end of the Red Sea between the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba. 230 miles (370 km) long.

2. Mount Sinai, the mountain, in southern Sinai, of uncertain identity, on which Moses received the law. Exodus 19.

---

Sinai British  

/ ˈsaɪnaɪ, ˈsaɪnɪˌaɪ /

noun

1. a mountainous peninsula of NE Egypt at the N end of the Red Sea, between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba: occupied by Israel in 1967; fully restored by 1982

2. the mountain where Moses received the Law from God (Exodus 19–20): often identified as Jebel Musa, sometimes as Jebel Serbal, both on the S Sinai Peninsula

---

Sinai Cultural  

1. Peninsula in northeastern Egypt (see also Egypt), bordered by the Gulf of Aqaba, an arm of the Red Sea, to the east, and the Gulf of Suez, another arm of the Red Sea, to the west.

---

Discover More

In the Bible (see also Bible), Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.

Sinai has been the scene of fighting during the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel conquered and occupied Sinai in the Six-Day War but returned the region to Egypt in 1982.

Other Word Forms

• Sinaic adjective
• Sinaitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Sinai

From Late Latin Sinai, from Greek Siná, from Hebrew Sīnaī, of uncertain origin and meaning

Example Sentences

Researchers evaluated 1,086 participants across 50 centers nationwide, including Mount Sinai Health System in New York.

From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026

Dr. Sundar Jagannath, network director for the Center of Excellence for Multiple Myeloma at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, meanwhile, supports the use of the term cure.

From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026

Researchers at Sinai Health have identified a blood test that can signal the risk of Crohn's disease years before symptoms begin.

From Science Daily • Jan. 22, 2026

Mount Sinai said Monday it is ready to provide patient care for as long as the strike lasts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 12, 2026

Alphabets apparently arose only once in human history: among speakers of Semitic languages, in the area from modern Syria to the Sinai, during the second millennium B.C.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond