/ar'euh may"ik/ , n.
1. Also, Aramean, Aramaean . a northwest Semitic language that from c300 B.C.-A.D. 650 was a lingua franca for nearly all of SW Asia and was the everyday speech of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Palestine. Abbr.: Aram Cf. Biblical Aramaic .
adj.
2. pertaining to Aram, or to the languages spoken there.
3. noting or pertaining to the alphabetical, or perhaps syllabic, script used for the writing of Aramaic from about the ninth century B.C. and from which were derived the Hebrew, Arabic, Armenian, Pahlavi, Uighor, and many other scripts, probably including Brahmi.
[ 1825-35; aramaî ( os ) of ARAM + -IC, modeled on Hebraic ]