Aramaeans

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An ancient Semitic people inhabiting parts of the Near East; their language formed the basis for Aramaic, widely used in antiquity; also refers to members of this historical ethnic group
2. A historical ethnic group from the Near East in ancient times known for their Semitic language, which influenced regional cultures; the term can also denote speakers of the Aramaic language derived from them
3. Refers to a people originating in ancient Syria and Mesopotamia known for their widespread use of the Aramaic tongue and their cultural impacts in early Middle Eastern history

Etymology: The Aramaeans were a confederation of Semitic-speaking tribes who settled in Syria and Mesopotamia from roughly the late second millennium BCE, and whose name survives mainly as the plural of "Aramaean." The singular form, "Aramaean," is the one that carries the older historical weight, and the plural is simply what English readers meet whenever the tribes are discussed as a group. Aramaean is itself a borrowing into English, reaching the language through the classical and biblical traditions that wrote about the peoples of the Levant rather than through any native English route. The plural follows the regular English pattern of adding "-s" to the singular, so "Aramaeans" is the form to use when referring to more than one member of the group.

Synonyms: Arameans, Syrians, Semites