aramaic

noun

a branch of the Semitic family of languages, especially the language of Syria used as a lingua franca in the Near East from the 6th century BC. It replaced Hebrew locally as the language of the Jewish people, and though displaced by Arabic in the 7th century AD, it still has about 200,000 speakers in scattered communities.

adjective

relating to Aramaic.

mid 19th century: from Greek Aramaios ‘of Aram’ (the biblical name of Syria) + -ic.