Aramaic

English

Etymology

From Latin Aramaicus, from Ancient Greek Ἀραμαϊκός (Aramaïkós), itself a calque of Aramaic ܐܪܡܝܐ / אָרָמָיָא (ʾārāmāyā, “Aramaean”) using Ἀράμ f (Arám, “Aram”, the name of a land originally covering central regions of what is now Syria) (from Aramaic ܐܪܡ / ארם (ʾarām)) +‎ -ικός (-ikós, adjective suffix) (compare with Ἀραμαῖος (Aramaîos, “Aramaean”), and the latter with Χαναναῖος (Khananaîos, “Chananaean”), from Χαναάν f (Khanaán, “Canaan”) +‎ -αῖος (-aîos)). By surface analysis, Aram +‎ -ic.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Aramaic

  2. A subfamily of languages in the Northwest Semitic language group, including, but not limited to:
    1. The language of the Aramaeans from the tenth century BC: often called Old Aramaic.
    2. The language of the administration in the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires from the seventh to fourth centuries BC: often called Imperial Aramaic or Official Aramaic.
    3. The language of portions of the Hebrew Bible, mainly the books of Ezra and Daniel: often called Biblical Aramaic.
    4. The language of Jesus of Nazareth: a form of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic or Galilean Aramaic.
    5. The language of Jewish targums, Midrash and the Talmuds, Jewish Babylonian Aramaic.
    6. The liturgical language of various Christian churches: often called Syriac.
    7. The liturgical language of the Mandaeans: usually called Mandaic.
    8. Any language of this family today called Neo-Aramaic, and separated by religion also Judeo-Aramaic and Syriac

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

Aramaic (not comparable)

  1. Referring to the Aramaic language, alphabet, culture or poetry.

Translations

Noun

Aramaic (plural Aramaics)

  1. An Aramaean.

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

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