ARAMAIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Aramaic mean? 

• ARAMAIC (noun)
  The noun ARAMAIC has 2 senses:

1. a Semitic language originally of the ancient Arameans but still spoken by other people in southwestern Asia

2. an alphabetical (or perhaps syllabic) script used since the 9th century BC to write the Aramaic language; many other scripts were subsequently derived from it

  Familiarity information: ARAMAIC used as a noun is rare.

• ARAMAIC (adjective)
  The adjective ARAMAIC has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to the ancient Aramaic languages

  Familiarity information: ARAMAIC used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ARAMAIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A Semitic language originally of the ancient Arameans but still spoken by other people in southwestern Asia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("Aramaic" is a kind of...):

Semitic (a major branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Aramaic"):

Biblical Aramaic (the form of Aramaic that was spoken in Palestine in the time of the New Testament)

Assyrian; Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (the language of modern Iraq)

Mandaean; Mandean (the form of Aramaic used by the Mandeans)

Derivation:

Aramaic (of or relating to the ancient Aramaic languages)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An alphabetical (or perhaps syllabic) script used since the 9th century BC to write the Aramaic language; many other scripts were subsequently derived from it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

Aramaic; Aramaic script

Hypernyms ("Aramaic" is a kind of...):

script (a particular orthography or writing system)

• ARAMAIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the ancient Aramaic languages

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Aramaic (a Semitic language originally of the ancient Arameans but still spoken by other people in southwestern Asia)

Derivation:

Aramaic (a Semitic language originally of the ancient Arameans but still spoken by other people in southwestern Asia)

 Context examples 

They are the survivors of the formerly extensive Aramaic- or Syriac- speaking Christian community of northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran.

(Assyrian, NCI Thesaurus)