Cushitic
/kuːˈʃɪtɪk/noun
Relating to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family or the peoples who speak its languages.
Did you know?Cushitic is a modern scholarly term built from the biblical name Cush, which was long used in classical and medieval traditions for regions south of Egypt, before linguists repurposed it for a major language family.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Antiquity
Hebrew
כּוּשׁ (Kūš)
“A name used for Cush, a land and people associated in biblical tradition with regions south of Egypt.”
Classical Antiquity
Greek/Latin
Aithiopia / Aethiopia
“A broad classical label for lands and peoples south of Egypt, often vague and shifting in reference.”
19th Century
English
Cushitic
“A scholarly ethnolinguistic term formed from Cush to classify a branch of Afroasiatic languages.”
Modern English
English
Cushitic
“Relating to the Cushitic languages or their speakers, especially in the Horn of Africa.”