Sumerian

[ soo-meer-ee-uhn, -mer- ]

adjective

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

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Sumer.
2. a language of unknown affinities that was the language of the Sumerians and had, in the late 4th and 3rd millenniums b.c., a well-developed literature that is preserved in pictographic and cuneiform writing and represents the world's oldest extant written documents.

Sumerian

/ suːˈmɪərɪən; -ˈmɛər- /

noun

1. a member of a people who established a civilization in Sumer during the 4th millennium bc
2. the extinct language of this people, of no known relationship to any other language

adjective

1. of or relating to ancient Sumer, its inhabitants, or their language or civilization

Other Words From

• pre-Su·meri·an adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Sumerian¹

First recorded in 1870–75; Sumer + -ian

Example Sentences

Recent years have seen attempts to recreate the beer of the Vikings, the Late Shang and Western Zhou dynasties of China, and the Sumerians, who are believed to have invented beer.

From New York Times

The Sumerians of Mesopotamia devised a love song by around 2000 BCE, and scholars of Ancient Egypt have found love songs inscribed into pottery and written on sheets of papyrus.

From Los Angeles Times

Other ancient calendars, dating to the Sumerians 5,000 years ago, simply divided the year into 12 months of 30 days each.

From National Geographic

Gleick traces the history of conflicts to the first known war over water nearly 4,500 years ago between the ancient Sumerian city-states of Lagash and Umma in what is now southern Iraq.

From Los Angeles Times

Shaving facial hair dates as far back as the Sumerians and Egyptians, who used razors made of copper or bronze.

From National Geographic