Canaanite

alternative Cananite

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

plural Canaanites · alternative Cananite

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

   1 more example

   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. broadlyA zealot or fanatic.
3. A member of the Canaanism movement.

comparative more Canaanite · superlative most Canaanite · alternative Cananite

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. broadlyzealous or fanatical.