Ismaelian

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. Relating to Ishmael, the son of Abraham, or to the Arab peoples traced back to him in tradition
2. Of or concerning Ishmael, the biblical son of Abraham, and the nations regarded as descended from him
3. Describing something connected with Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn son, or with the peoples said to have sprung from him

Etymology: "Ismaelian" is formed from the proper name Ismael, the Biblical Ishmael, with the suffix "-ian" attached. Ishmael was, in the Book of Genesis, the son of Abraham by the Egyptian servant Hagar, and he became the ancestor of the Ishmaelites, a people associated with the Arabian desert. The adjective is therefore simply a way of saying "of or relating to Ishmael" or "of the Ishmaelites," and it inherits the name's long religious and cultural associations rather than any sense of its own. The "-ian" ending is a common English suffix, borrowed through Latin and French from Latin "-ianus," used to turn names into adjectives, as in "Shakespearean" or "Johannine." The spelling "Ismael" follows the Latinized form of the Hebrew name, which is why it differs from the more familiar English "Ishmael."