Semitic \Sem*it"ic\, a. Of or pertaining to Shem or his descendants; belonging to that division of the Caucasian race which includes the Arabs, Jews, and related races. [Written also Shemitic.]

Semitic language, a name used to designate a group of Asiatic and African languages, some living and some dead, namely: Hebrew and Ph[oe]nician, Aramaic, Assyrian, Arabic, Ethiopic (Geez and Ampharic). --Encyc. Brit.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)