SEMITIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Semitic mean? 

• SEMITIC (noun)
  The noun SEMITIC has 1 sense:

1. a major branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family

  Familiarity information: SEMITIC used as a noun is very rare.

• SEMITIC (adjective)
  The adjective SEMITIC has 2 senses:

1. of or relating to the group of Semitic languages

2. of or relating to or characteristic of Semites

  Familiarity information: SEMITIC used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEMITIC (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)

• SEMITIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the group of Semitic languages

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

Semitic tongues have a complicated morphology

Pertainym:

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

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of Semites

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

Semite; Semitic

Context example:

Semite peoples

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)

 Context examples 

Denotes a person with ethnic origins in the Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories in the Middle East and northern Africa.

(Arab, NCI Thesaurus)