Aramaic

[ ar-uh-mey-ik ]

noun

1. Also Aramaean. a northwest Semitic language that from around 300 b.c. to a.d. 650 was a lingua franca for nearly all of southwestern Asia and was the everyday speech of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Palestine. : Aram, Aram. Compare Biblical Aramaic.

adjective

1. pertaining to Aram, or to the languages spoken there.
2. noting or pertaining to the alphabetic, or perhaps syllabic, script used for the writing of Aramaic from about the ninth century b.c. and from which were derived the Hebrew, Arabic, Armenian, Pahlavi, Uighor, and many other scripts, probably including Brahmi.

Aramaic

/ ˌærəˈmeɪɪk /

noun

1. an ancient language of the Middle East, still spoken in parts of Syria and the Lebanon, belonging to the NW Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family. Originally the speech of Aram, in the 5th century bc it spread to become the lingua franca of the Persian empire See also Biblical Aramaic

adjective

1. of, relating to, or using this language

Word History and Origins

Origin of Aramaic¹

First recorded in 1830–35; from Greek aramaî(os) “of Aram (Syria)” + -ic adjective suffix; Aram, -ic,

Example Sentences

The word for "chain" (Q'r. ham'nka) is in Theodotion rendered μανιάκης, and occurs in later Aramaic.

From Project Gutenberg