/jeuh fet"ik/ , adj.
1. of or pertaining to Japheth.
2. of or pertaining to a hypothesized group of languages of the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and southern Europe, including the Caucasian languages, Sumerian, Basque, and Etruscan, formerly thought by some to represent a stage in language development that preceded the development of Indo-European and Semitic.
[ 1820-30; JAPHET(H) + -IC, on the model of HAMITIC, SEMITIC ]