I. |ēthē|äpik, -|ōp- adjective
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Latin Aethiopicus, from Greek Aithiopikos, from Aithiopia Ethiopia + Greek -ikos -ic
1. : ethiopian 1, 4
2.
a. : of, relating to, characteristic of, or constituting the language Ethiopic
b. : of, relating to, characteristic of, or constituting a group of related Semitic languages spoken in Ethiopia including the classical Ethiopic, Tigre, Tigrinya, Amharic, Argobba, Harari, and Gurage
II. noun
Usage: capitalized
1. : a Semitic language formerly spoken in Ethiopia and still in use as the liturgical language of the Christian church in Ethiopia — called also Geez
2. : the Ethiopic group of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages