Semite

American  

[sem-ahyt, see-mahyt] / ˈsɛm aɪt, ˈsi maɪt /

noun

1. a member of any of various ancient and modern peoples originating in southwestern Asia, including the Akkadians, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs.

2. a Jew.

3. a member of any of the peoples descended from Shem, the eldest son of Noah.

---

Semite British  

/ ˈsiːmaɪt /

noun

1. a member of the group of Caucasoid peoples who speak a Semitic language, including the Jews and Arabs as well as the ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, and Phoenicians

2. another word for a Jew

---

Semite Cultural  

1. Someone who belongs to the Semitic peoples. The Semites are supposedly descended from the biblical Shem, the eldest son of Noah.

---

Other Word Forms

• non-Semite noun

Etymology

Origin of Semite

First recorded in 1870–75; from New Latin sēmīta, from Late Latin Sēm (from Greek Sḗm, from Hebrew Shēm Shem ) + -īta -ite ¹

Example Sentences

The first post office was called Yo Semite.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2025

"In the ebb and flow of histories and cultures," Lawrence Durrell once wrote of Cyprus, "it has time and time again been a flashpoint where Aryan and Semite, Christian and Moslem, met in a death-embrace."

From Time Magazine Archive

Over a tawny glass of Spanish sherry a suave Semite faced London reporters in his flat last week.

From Time Magazine Archive

Its youth beheld the Semite on Irish coasts a guest, Whose manhood saw the empire of the C�sars sink to rest In its old age, as a patriarch sinks silently to rest.

From Donahoe's Magazine, Volume XV, No. 3 Volume XV (Jan 1886-Jul 1886) by Various

At four o'clock on the afternoon of August 5th, we started for Sacramento, on the steamer Yo Semite.

From Scenes in the Hawaiian Islands and California by Anderson, Mary E. (Mary Evarts)