Nabataean
Syllables: Na·ba·tae·an/ˌnæ.bəˈtiː.ən/
Nabataean noun: the ancient inhabitants of Nabataea, a region of Arabia inhabited by the Nabataeans that covers parts of northern Arabia and the Southern Levant, lying between Arabia and Syria, and stretching from the Euphrates river to the Red Sea. During the Hellenistic Period, the Nabataeans were involved in a nexus of trade routes reaching as far as Italy to the west and India to the east, which centered at their city of Petra in what is now Western Jordan near the Negev Desert from before 310 BCE until the Roman conquest in 106 CE.
Noun
Nabataean (plural Nabataeans)
- The ancient inhabitants of Nabataea, a region of Arabia inhabited by the Nabataeans that covers parts of northern Arabia and the Southern Levant, lying between Arabia and Syria, and stretching from the Euphrates river to the Red Sea. During the Hellenistic Period, the Nabataeans were involved in a nexus of trade routes reaching as far as Italy to the west and India to the east, which centered at their city of Petra in what is now Western Jordan near the Negev Desert from before 310 BCE until the Roman conquest in 106 CE.
- Any of a group of people who once lived around modern Jordan.
Proper noun
Nabataean
- The language of those people.
Adjective
Nabataean (comparative more Nabataean, superlative most Nabataean)
- Relating to the Nabataean people, their kings, art, architecture, religion, language, or script.
- We tug our hammer-headed mules along the tourist trails of Petra, the fabled Nabataean capital cut from rock the color of living muscle.2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)https://web.archive.org/web/20150212214621/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text
Nabataean meaning in Hindi, Arabic and Persian
Nabataean in Hindi
- any of a group of people who once lived around modern Jordan
- नबती nabtī
Nabataean in Arabic
- any of a group of people who once lived around modern Jordan
- نَبَطِيّ nabaṭiyy
Nabataean in Persian
- any of a group of people who once lived around modern Jordan
- نبطی nabati
- language
- نبطی nabatī
- pertaining to the Nabataean people or their language
- نبطی nabatī
Synonyms of Nabataean
Forms of Nabataean
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | Nabataeans |
| alternative form | Nabatean |
| alternative form | Nabathaean |
| alternative form | Nabathean |
| alternative form | Nabathite |
| alternative form (archaic) | Nabatæan |
| alternative form (archaic) | Nabathæan |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more Nabataean |
| superlative | most Nabataean |
Origin of Nabataean
Borrowed from Latin Nabataeus (“Nabataean”), which was borrowed from Ancient Greek Ναβαταῖος (Nabataîos, “Nabataean”), which was borrowed from Nabataean Aramaic 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 (nbṭw, “Nabataean”). Possibly cognate with Arabic نَبَطِيّ (nabaṭiyy, “Nabataean, Nabaṭ”), Arabic أَنْبَاط (ʔanbāṭ), and Hebrew נבטים (nabaṭim, “Nabataeans”), and Hebrew נבטית (nabaṭit, “Nabataean (adj.)”), all of which might be ultimately derived from the same Semitic root, perhaps Proto-Semitic *nabat-, possibly cognate with Akkadian nabāṭu ("to shine brightly").
Words that rhyme with Nabataean
Questions about Nabataean
- What does Nabataean mean?
- Nabataean means the ancient inhabitants of Nabataea, a region of Arabia inhabited by the Nabataeans that covers parts of northern Arabia and the Southern Levant, lying between Arabia and Syria, and stretching from the Euphrates river to the Red Sea. During the Hellenistic Period, the Nabataeans were involved in a nexus of trade routes reaching as far as Italy to the west and India to the east, which centered at their city of Petra in what is now Western Jordan near the Negev Desert from before 310 BCE until the Roman conquest in 106 CE.
- What is Nabataean in Hindi?
- Nabataean in Hindi is नबती (nabtī). See Nabataean meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is Nabataean?
- Nabataean can be a noun, a proper noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce Nabataean?
- Nabataean is pronounced /ˌnæ.bəˈtiː.ən/.
- What is the plural of Nabataean?
- The plural of Nabataean is Nabataeans.
Words near Nabataean in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Nabataean (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Nabataean.wav.
Cite this entry: “Nabataean.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nabataean. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.