semitism
/ˈsɛmɪtɪzəm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.45 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A word or phrase (construction or idiom) typical of or influenced by a Semitic language such as Arabic, Aramaic or Hebrew.
Countable
noun
Judaism; Jewishness (especially when seen as the thing to which anti-Semitism is opposed).
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The main reason for this neglect is the fact that it is largely a translated text, a fact which is alleged to account for its strange idiom tinged with Semitic traits, largely in syntax and lexicography. For sure, one can easily identify countless Semitisms."
- "In other words, 93% of the Semitisms in Luke — more than nine out of 10 Semitisms in the chart — are unique to Luke. Of all Luke's Semitisms, only 15 (= 2%) appear in common with both Matthew and Mark; […]"
- "Finally, we can identify certain idioms clearly of Semitic origin, but which are not found in the Bible – one might term them post-biblical Semitisms."
- "If gay corporation executives can learn to talk to drag queens and separatist dykes across the common denominator of being queer, then perhaps Arabs and Jews can learn to communicate across their common Semitism."
- "In a Europe which was obsessed by race, some saw the division as one between Semites and Aryans, the Sunnis representing the Semitism of Arabian Islam, the Shi'a representing the upsurge of Aryan Iran."
- "Persian "Aryanism" and Arab "Semitism" are of course myths with a toehold on reality located somewhere in the origins of languages, not peoples."
Etymology
Etymology tree English Semite Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English Semitism From Semite + -ism.
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈsɛmɪtɪzəm/