Phoenician

American  

[fi-nish-uhn, -nee-shuhn] / fɪˈnɪʃ ən, -ˈni ʃən /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Phoenicia.

2. the extinct Semitic language of the Phoenicians.

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adjective

1. of or relating to Phoenicia, its people, or their language.

2. noting or pertaining to the script used for the writing of Phoenician from the 11th century b.c. or earlier and from which were derived the Greek, Roman, and all other Western alphabets.

Phoenician British  

/ fəˈniːʃən, -ˈnɪʃɪən /

noun

1. a member of an ancient Semitic people of NW Syria who dominated the trade of the ancient world in the first millennium _bc and founded colonies throughout the Mediterranean

2. the extinct language of this people, belonging to the Canaanitic branch of the Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family

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adjective

1. of or relating to Phoenicia, the Phoenicians, or their language

Etymology

Origin of Phoenician

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; Phoenicia, -an