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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)
