semitism

noun

1. (countable)A word or phrase (construction or idiom) typical of or influenced by a Semitic language such as Arabic, Aramaic or Hebrew.

   “The main reason for this neglect is the fact that it is largely a translated text, a fact which is alleged to account for its strange idiom tinged with Semitic traits, largely in syntax and lexicography. For sure, one can easily identify countless Semitisms.”

   “In other words, 93% of the Semitisms in Luke — more than nine out of 10 Semitisms in the chart — are unique to Luke. Of all Luke's Semitisms, only 15 (= 2%) appear in common with both Matthew and Mark; […]”

   “Finally, we can identify certain idioms clearly of Semitic origin, but which are not found in the Bible – one might term them post-biblical Semitisms.”

2. (rare, uncountable)Semitic character; Semiticness.

   “If gay corporation executives can learn to talk to drag queens and separatist dykes across the common denominator of being queer, then perhaps Arabs and Jews can learn to communicate across their common Semitism.”

   “In a Europe which was obsessed by race, some saw the division as one between Semites and Aryans, the Sunnis representing the Semitism of Arabian Islam, the Shi'a representing the upsurge of Aryan Iran.”

   “Persian "Aryanism" and Arab "Semitism" are of course myths with a toehold on reality located somewhere in the origins of languages, not peoples.”

   “[…] the Aryanism of Iran in generous revolt against the alien and constricting Semitism of Arabian Islam.”

3. (rare, strict-sense, uncountable)Judaism; Jewishness (especially when seen as the thing to which anti-Semitism is opposed).

   “[…] a racist coloration through the inclusion of another remark of Albert Gessmann: when the more radical nationalists fell silent a merger of all Aryans against the common danger of Semitism will be the next consequence.”

   “Only a strong countermovement could prevent the triumph of Semitism all over the world. The urgent task for Germans was to overcome the Semitism within themselves, and racial hygiene was the means to this end.”

   “If the victory of Semitism meant the death of the nation, the reverse was also true: the triumph of the nation implied the elimination of the Semites. Why were Jews painted in such a negative light?”