Horite
/ˈhɔːraɪt/
noun
Origin
Hebrew
חוֹר (ḥōr) — cave, hole
Overview
Meaning Now
- A member of an ancient people mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, inhabiting the region of Mount Seir before the Edomites.
- A designation sometimes conflated or associated with the Hurrians, a non-Semitic people of the ancient Near East.
Literal older meaning
cave-dweller
Language path
Hebrew → Latin → English
Earliest form
חֹרִי (Ḥōrī)
Earliest period
8th–6th century BCE
Journey
In the Old Testament, the Horites are described as the original inhabitants of Mount Seir who were later displaced or assimilated by the descendants of Esau (the Edomites). Scholars have frequently linked the term to the 'Hurrians' (Ḫurru), an ethnic group that flourished in Northern Mesopotamia and Syria during the second millennium BCE, though the linguistic and historical connection between the biblical 'Horite' and the archaeological 'Hurrian' remains complex and debated.
Evolution
- Biblical Hebrew
Ḥōrī
“member of the Horite people”
Derived from the term for cave or subterranean dwelling.
- Septuagint (Ancient Greek)
Chorraíos
“Horite”
Transliteration into Greek.
- Vulgate (Latin)
Horraeus
“Horite”
Latinized form of the Greek.
- Modern English
Horite
“ancient inhabitant of Seir”
Standard English form.
Connections
Word parts
Hor-
root
cave/hole
-ite
suffix
denoting a member of a group or location
Related across languages
Hebrew
חֹרִי (Ḥōrī)
Horite
Greek
Χορραῖος (Chorraíos)
Horite
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Related to Horite
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.