Japhetic

[ juh-fet-ik ]

adjective

1. of or relating to Japheth.
2. of or relating to a hypothesized group of languages of the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and southern Europe, including the Caucasian languages, Sumerian, Basque, and Etruscan, formerly thought by some to represent a stage in language development that preceded the development of Indo-European and Semitic.

Japhetic

/ dʒeɪˈfɛtɪk /

adjective

1. denoting a discredited grouping of languages that postulated a relationship between Basque, Etruscan, and Georgian among others

Word History and Origins

Origin of Japhetic¹

First recorded in 1820–30; Japhet(h) + -ic, on the model of Hamitic, Semitic

Word History and Origins

Origin of Japhetic¹

C19: from New Latin Japheti descendants of Japheth + -ic

Example Sentences

The Aryans would have been noble as being of the Japhetic race.

From Project Gutenberg

The language he called Median, and classified it in “the Scythian, rather than in the Japhetic family.”

From Project Gutenberg

The Medes were of the Aryan or Japhetic stock, and were always a warlike and independent people.

From Project Gutenberg

The words Japhetic and Shemitic are also employed in a sense somewhat different from that which common usage has assigned them.

From Project Gutenberg