Geʽezn.
/ˈɡiːɛz/, /ɡiːz/, U.S. /ɡiˈɛz/, /ɡeɪˈɛz/ The ancient language of Ethiopia, still used as a liturgical language; = Ethiopic n. Also attributive.
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the mind > language > languages of the world > Afro-Asiatic > [noun] > Semitic > Ethiopic
Ethiopian1595
Ethiopic1626
Abyssinian1660
Amharic1682
Geʽez1790
Amharinya1849
Amharan1935
1790 J. Bruce Trav. Source Nile I. 424 Speaking of the Ethiopic at present, I mean only the Geez language, the language of the Shepherds, and of the books.
1790 J. Bruce Trav. Source Nile I. 425 The Geez is exceedingly harsh and unharmonious.
1838 Penny Cycl. X. 52/2 The antient Ethiopian, or Geez.
1867 W. D. Whitney Lang. & Study of Lang. 299 The ancient tongue of Abyssinia, the Ethiopic or Geëz, has a literature.
1883 R. N. Cust Sketch Mod. Langs. Afr. I. 74 The Written Characters of the old Ethiopic, or Gíz.
1908 Daily Chron. 6 Mar. 3/5 Their Bible, which is in Gheez,..contains all the books of our own Old Testament, except the Book of Esther.
1920 Blackwood's Mag. May 676/1 A book in the Geez language.
1957 Listener 14 Nov. 774/1 Their recital of Geez texts and the copying of old manuscripts on the lives of Ethiopian saints.
1957 Listener 14 Nov. 774/1 The priests are satisfied if the ordinary man says his prayers in Geez which he does not understand.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1790