FromLatinAramaicus, fromAncient GreekἈραμαϊκός(Aramaïkós), itself a calque ofAramaicܐܪܡܝܐ /אָרָמָיָא(ʾārāmāyā,“Aramean”) usingἈράμ f(Arám,“Aram”,the name of a land originally covering central regions of what is now Syria) (fromAramaicܐܪܡ /ארם(ʾarām)) +-ικός(-ikós,adjective suffix) (compare withἈραμαῖος(Aramaîos,“Aramean”), and the latter withΧαναναῖος(Khananaîos,“Chananean”), fromΧαναάν f(Khanaán,“Canaan”) +-αῖος(-aîos)). Bysurface analysis,Aram +-ic.
Aramaic
- Asubfamily oflanguages in the NorthwestSemiticlanguagegroup, including, but not limited to:
- The language of theArameans from the tenth century BC: often calledOld Aramaic.
- The language of the administration in theAssyrian,Babylonian andPersian empires from the seventh to fourth centuries BC: often calledImperial Aramaic orOfficial Aramaic.
- The language of portions of theHebrew Bible, mainly the books ofEzra andDaniel: often calledBiblical Aramaic.
- The language ofJesus ofNazareth: a form ofJewish Palestinian Aramaic orGalilean Aramaic.
- The language ofJewishtargums,Midrash and theTalmuds,Jewish Babylonian Aramaic.
- Theliturgical language of variousChristianchurches: often calledSyriac.
- The liturgical language of theMandaeans: usually calledMandaic.
- Any language of this family today calledNeo-Aramaic, and separated by religion alsoJudeo-Aramaic andSyriac
Aramaic (notcomparable)
- Referring to the Aramaic language,alphabet,culture orpoetry.
pertaining to the language, alphabet, culture or poetry
Aramaic (pluralAramaics)
- AnAramean.
