Aramaic

UK: /ˌærəˈmeɪɪk/ US: (ar′ə mā′ik)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

Ar•a•ma•ic  (ar′ə mā′ik), n. 

1. Language Varieties Also, Aramean, Aramaean. a northwest Semitic language that from c300 b.c.–a.d. 650 was a lingua franca for nearly all of SW Asia and was the everyday speech of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Palestine. Abbr.: Aram Cf. Biblical Aramaic.

adj. 

2. Language Varieties pertaining to Aram, or to the languages spoken there.
3. Linguistics noting or pertaining to the alphabetical, or perhaps syllabic, script used for the writing of Aramaic from about the ninth century b.c. and from which were derived the Hebrew, Arabic, Armenian, Pahlavi, Uighor, and many other scripts, probably including Brahmi.

• Greek aramaî(os) of Aramaic + -ic, modeled on Hebraic
• 1825–35

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Aramaic / ˌærəˈmeɪɪk/ noun

1. an ancient language of the Middle East, still spoken in parts of Syria and the Lebanon, belonging to the NW Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family. Originally the speech of Aram, in the 5th century bc it spread to become the lingua franca of the Persian empire

adjective

1. of, relating to, or using this language