semitics

noun (used with a singular verb)

1. the study of Semitic languages, literature, etc.

noun

1. a subfamily of Afroasiatic languages that includes Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician.

adjective

2. of or relating to the Semites or their languages, especially of or pertaining to the Jews.

noun

1. (functioning as singular) the study of Semitic languages and culture

noun

1. a branch or subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages that includes Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Amharic, and such ancient languages as Akkadian and Phoenician

adjective

2. denoting, relating to, or belonging to this group of languages
3. denoting, belonging to, or characteristic of any of the peoples speaking a Semitic language, esp the Jews or the Arabs
4. another word for Jewish

adj.1797, denoting the language group that includes Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian, etc.; 1826 as “of or pertaining to Semites,” from Medieval Latin Semiticus (source of Spanish semitico, French semitique, German semitisch), from Semita (see Semite). As a noun, as the name of a linguistic family, from 1813. In non-linguistic use, perhaps directly from German semitisch. In recent use often with the specific sense “Jewish,” but not historically so limited. A descriptive term for several peoples of the Middle East and their descendants, including Jews (see also Jews) and Arabs (see Arab-Israeli conflict). Today the term is mainly applied to Jews. (See anti-Semitism.)