Syriac

[ seer-ee-ak ]

/ ˈsɪər iˌæk /

noun

a form of Aramaic used by various Eastern Churches.

Origin of Syriac

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

OTHER WORDS FROM Syriac

pre-Syr·i·ac, adjective, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for syriac

Not so: there are Christians there too, like the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch.
Why Won’t the West Defend Middle Eastern Christians?|Diarmaid MacCulloch|October 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Supplemented with one hour a week on Syriac, Arabic, Chaldaic, during four years.
Loyola and the Educational System of the Jesuits|Thomas Hughes
Syriac Liturgy of St. James, "pars altaris in qu tabula defixa est;" "pars media mens vit."
Rites and Ritual|Philip Freeman
That the Syriac has it so, is of little weight; seeing it is no original Syriac, but retranslation.
Hope of the Gospel|George MacDonald

These are known in their entirety only in Syriac, and were first published by Wetstein , who held them genuine.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4|Various
We owe it neither to the Syriac tongue nor to the Hebrew, a jargon of the Syriac, in which adultery is called niuph.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)

British Dictionary definitions for syriac

Syriac

/ (ˈsɪrɪˌæk) /

noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012