כנען

See also: כּנען‎

Hebrew

Etymology

Uncertain. Suggested to be from a Semitic root *'knʿ (“to be low, humble, subjugated”), which could have been used in contrast with ארם‎ (“Aram”) with the latter derived from a word for highlands.[1][2] Compare Phoenician 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍‎ (knʿn), Arabic كَنْعَانُ‎ (kanʕānu).

Pronunciation

Proper noun

כְּנַעַן • (k'ná'an) m

  1. (biblical) Canaan, a son of Ham and a grandson of Noah.
  2. (biblical) Canaan, the land inhabited by Canaan: the Land of Canaan.
  3. (Medieval Hebrew) the Slavs; Slavic lands

Derived terms

References
  1. Wilhelm Gesenius, Hebrew Lexicon, 1833
  2. Tristram, Henry Baker (1884). Bible Places: Or, The Topography of the Holy Land. p. 336.

Further reading
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