Etymology: < Hebrew 'ĕmōrī, noun and adjective (either cognate with, or borrowed from, Akkadian amurrû (adjective) Amorite, amurru (noun) member of the Amorite people, the Amorite people collectively, west, west wind + Hebrew -ī -i suffix²) + -ite suffix¹, perhaps after German Amoriter, noun (1523 in Luther's translation of the Bible).In β. forms after post-classical Latin Amorrhaeus (Vetus Latina, Vulgate; also Amorraeus , Amorreus ), denoting a member of the people ( < Hellenistic Greek Ἀμορραῖος (Septuagint), denoting a member of the people, < Hebrew 'ĕmōrī + ancient Greek -αῖος , suffix forming adjectives). Compare Old English Amorreus ( < post-classical Latin Amorrhaeus ), denoting a member of the people, in unassimilated form with Latin case inflections (also Middle English Amorrei (plural)). Compare also (in more naturalized form) Old English Amorrea (genitive plural), Middle English Amorreys (plural):OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxxxv. 20 Þær Seon cyning swylt dreorig fornam, þe Amorrea anweald hæfde [L. Seon regem amorreorum]. ▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Num. xxi. 21 Irael sende massungers to seon þe kyng off amorreys [L. amorreorum]. Compare also Old English amorreisc , adjective (compare -ish suffix¹), also used as noun in plural, denoting the people:OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Num. (Claud.) xxi. 21 Moyses sende ða to Seon, ðam cyninge Amoreiscre ðeode [L. Amorreorum].OE Vitellius Psalter cxxxiv. 11 Seon regem amorreorum : Sion cyninge amorreiscra. The Akkadian terms referred to groups of semi-nomadic pastoralists and their descendants who integrated into various polities at different times, and the locality associated with the Amorites has varied over time. In Mesopotamia they are mentioned frequently in the textual record by the late third millennium b.c., and Amorite dynasties ruled Mesopotamian cities following Mesopotamian forms of kingship in the early second millennium b.c. In the third and early second millennia b.c. the Amorites are linked with an extensive area corresponding to much of present-day Syria. In the mid second millennium b.c., the term Amurru denoted an area of territory between the River Orontes and the central Levantine coast, which fell under varying degrees of Egyptian and Hittite control. By the first millennium b.c. the term was used more broadly to denote territory to the west of Mesopotamia, including Syria, the Palestine region, and northern Arabia.

Etymology: < classical Latin amor love (see Amor n.) + -ite suffix². Compare earlier amorist n.