Canaanite

[ key-nuh-nahyt ]

noun
  1. a member of a Semitic people that inhabited parts of ancient Palestine and were conquered by the Israelites and largely absorbed by them.

  2. a group of Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Phoenician, spoken chiefly in ancient Palestine and Syria.

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Canaan, the Canaanites, or the Canaanite group of languages.

Origin of Canaanite

1
1350–1400; Middle English ≪ Greek Kananī́tēs;see Canaan, -ite1

Other words from Canaanite

  • Ca·naan·it·ish [key-nuh-nahy-tish], /ˈkeɪ nəˌnaɪ tɪʃ/, Ca·naan·it·ic [key-nuh-nit-ik], /ˌkeɪ nəˈnɪt ɪk/, adjective
  • pre-Ca·naan·ite, noun, adjective
  • pre-Ca·naan·it·ic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Canaanite in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Canaanite

Canaanite

/ (ˈkeɪnəˌnaɪt) /


noun
  1. a member of an ancient Semitic people who occupied the land of Canaan before the Israelite conquest

  2. the extinct language of this people, belonging to the Canaanitic branch of the Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family

  1. (in later books of the Old Testament) a merchant or trader (Job 40:30; Proverbs 31:24)

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