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Semitic - 4 dictionary results

Se⋅mit⋅ic

  [suh-mit-ik]
Use Semitic in a Sentence
–noun
1. a subfamily of Afroasiatic languages that includes Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician.
–adjective
2. of or pertaining to the Semites or their languages, esp. of or pertaining to the Jews.
Origin:
< NL sēmīticus, equiv. to sēmīt(a) Semite + -icus -ic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Se·mit·ic   (sə-mĭt'ĭk)   
adj.  
  1. Of or relating to the Semites or their languages or cultures.
  2. Of, relating to, or constituting a subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language group that includes Arabic, Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic.
n.  
  1. The Semitic languages.
  2. Any one of the Semitic languages.

[New Latin Sēmiticus, from Sēmita, Semite, from Late Latin Sēm, Shem, eponymous ancestor of the Semites, from Greek, from Hebrew Šēm.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Semitic

Sem*it"ic\, a. Of or pertaining to Shem or his descendants; belonging to that division of the Caucasian race which includes the Arabs, Jews, and related races. [Written also Shemitic.]

Semitic language, a name used to designate a group of Asiatic and African languages, some living and some dead, namely: Hebrew and Ph[oe]nician, Aramaic, Assyrian, Arabic, Ethiopic (Geez and Ampharic). --Encyc. Brit.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Semitic [(suh-mit-ik)]

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

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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