/ English Dictionary

SEMITIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A major branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("Semitic" is a kind of...):

Afrasian; Afrasian language; Afro-Asiatic; Afroasiatic; Afroasiatic language; Hamito-Semitic (a large family of related languages spoken both in Asia and Africa)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Semitic"):

Akkadian (an ancient branch of the Semitic languages)

Amharic; Ethiopian language (the dominant and official language of Ethiopia; a Semitic language much influenced by the Cushitic language with which Amhara have been in close contact)

Arabic; Arabic language (the Semitic language of the Arabs; spoken in a variety of dialects)

Aramaic (a Semitic language originally of the ancient Arameans but still spoken by other people in southwestern Asia)

Maltese; Maltese language; Malti (the national language of the Republic of Malta; a Semitic language derived from Arabic but with many loan words from Italian, Spanish, and Norman-French)

Canaanitic; Canaanitic language (a group of Semitic languages)

Derivation:

Semitic (of or relating to the group of Semitic languages)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of Semites

Example:

Semite peoples

Synonyms:

Semite; Semitic

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Semite (a member of a group of Semitic-speaking peoples of the Middle East and northern Africa)

Derivation:

Semite (a member of a group of Semitic-speaking peoples of the Middle East and northern Africa)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to the group of Semitic languages

Example:

Semitic tongues have a complicated morphology

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Semitic (a major branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family)

Derivation:

Semitic (a major branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family)

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