Syriac

American  

[seer-ee-ak] / ˈsɪər iˌæk /

noun

1. a form of Aramaic used by various Eastern Churches.

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Syriac British  

/ ˈsɪrɪˌæk /

noun

1. a dialect of Aramaic spoken in Syria until about the 13th century _ad and still in use as a liturgical language of certain Eastern churches

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Other Word Forms

• pre-Syriac
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Syriac

< Latin Syriacus < Greek Syriakós. See Syria, -ac

Example Sentences

Living in the Syriac Quarter near Ashrafieh, Serjian said "we have nowhere else to go, so we'll stay in our home".

From Barron's • Jan. 7, 2026

Zaki Aydin, a 50-year-old Syriac language teacher in Orebro, said he was afraid for the first time for his young students, who are mostly from the Middle East.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2025

Scholars were often native speakers of Greek and Syriac who were generally non-Muslim.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

The portion includes an ancient version of Matthew 12:1 that augments the earliest known Greek manuscripts, which the Old Syriac predates by at least a century.

From Washington Times • Apr. 13, 2023

Syriac was closely related to the vernacular Aramaic of Palestine and was spoken in the adjoining region: whilst Latin was the familiar idiom of all the Churches of the West.

From The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by Burgon, John William