Word.ws English Dictionary

Canaanite

/ˈkeɪnənaɪt/

Canaanite proper noun: a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Israelites and Phoenicians.

Proper noun

Canaanite

  1. A subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Israelites and Phoenicians.
    • An affricated realization of *-z, as well as of voiceless *-s and emphatic *-ṣ-, is in any case reconstructed for Proto-Semitic, Northwest Semitic, and Canaanite, to which Phoenician belongs.2025, Cid Swanenvleugel, The Pre-Roman Elements of the Sardinian Lexicon, page 393

Noun

Canaanite (plural Canaanites)

  1. A member of the ancient Semitic people who occupied Canaan before its conquest by Israelites.
    • Among the ancient Canaanites it was considered a divine honor to perform the sexual act.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 54
    • It’s a simple sentence that captures the hopes and fears of modern-day parents as much as the bronze age Canaanite who owned the doubled-edged ivory comb on which the words appear.2022 November 9, Ian Sample, “Oldest known sentence written in first alphabet discovered – on a head-lice comb”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Aug 2024
  2. (broadly) A zealot or fanatic.
  3. A member of the Canaanism movement.

Adjective

Canaanite (comparative more Canaanite, superlative most Canaanite)

  1. Of or pertaining to the people or language of Canaan.
    • Unearthed in Lachish, a Canaanite city state in the second millennium BCE and the second most important city in the kingdom of Judah, the comb suggests that humans have endured lice for thousands of years and that even the wealthiest were not spared the grim infestations.2022 November 9, Ian Sample, “Oldest known sentence written in first alphabet discovered – on a head-lice comb”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Aug 2024
  2. Of or pertaining to this sect or its followers; Canaanitic.
  3. (broadly) zealous or fanatical.

Canaanite meaning in Malayalam, Arabic and Persian

Canaanite in Malayalam

of or pertaining to this sect or its followers
ക്നാനായ knānāya

Canaanite in Arabic

member of ancient Semitic people
كَنْعَانِيّ kanʕāniyy

Canaanite in Persian

member of ancient Semitic people
کنعانی kan'âni

Synonyms of Canaanite

Forms of Canaanite

Proper noun
alternative formCananite
Noun
pluralCanaanites
Adjective
comparativemore Canaanite
superlativemost Canaanite

Origin of Canaanite

From Canaan + -ite.

Words formed from Canaanite

Questions about Canaanite

What does Canaanite mean?
Canaanite means a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Israelites and Phoenicians.
What is Canaanite in Malayalam?
Canaanite in Malayalam is ക്നാനായ (knānāya). See Canaanite meaning in Malayalam.
What part of speech is Canaanite?
Canaanite can be a proper noun, a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce Canaanite?
Canaanite is pronounced /ˈkeɪnənaɪt/.

Words near Canaanite in the dictionary

  1. Canaan Dogs
  2. Canaanean
  3. Canaaneans
  4. Canaanic
  5. Canaanism
  6. Canaanite
  7. Canaanites
  8. Canaanitess
  9. Canaanitesses
  10. Canaanitic
  11. Canaanitish

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Canaanite (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Canaanite.wav.

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