1
: a member of a conquering people in Asia Minor and Syria with an empire in the second millennium b.c.
2
: the extinct Indo-European language of the Hittites see Indo-European Languages Table
Hittite
adjective
Examples of Hittite in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In the Late Bronze Age, when a combination of earthquakes, drought, and trade disruption ended the Egyptian, Mycaenaean, and Hittite empires, those who survived began to get healthier and taller, Kemp writes.
—
Linda Kinstler, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2025
With further analogues in Scythian, Latvian, and Hittite, many researchers now think that the early Indo-Europeans prayed to a sky father known as something like Dyeus Puhter.
—Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Once the capital of the Hittite Empire, a Bronze-Age superpower (1650 B.C.E. to 1200 B.C.E.), researchers have uncovered nearly 30,000 clay tablets that contained cuneiform writing.
—Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2025
Per Anatolian Archaeology, ancient rock tombs found in Şanlıurfa usually date to the late Hittite and Roman periods.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2025
Indeed, one of the most famous stories about him is his depravity in condemning a soldier, Uriah the Hittite, to a brutal death so that David could take Uriah’s wife, Bat-Sheva, as his own.
—Jacob F. Love, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2025
Recall the biblical story of King David and his soldier Uriah the Hittite.
—Mark Lilla, Harper's Magazine, 2 Oct. 2024
Researchers believe the text documents a foreign religious ritual of interest to Hittite scribes.
ZAMBIA
Two 476,000-year-old logs uncovered in a riverbed near Kalambo Falls, along with several wood tools, may be the oldest example to date of early humans using wood to build.
—Lori Youmshajekian, Scientific American, 10 Nov. 2023
Until the foundation of Turkey, there had been only two Anatolian states that controlled most of the peninsula: the first was the Hittite Empire in the second millennium BC, and the second was the Turkish Seljuk sultanate from the eleventh to the thirteenth century.
—Halil Karaveli, Foreign Affairs, 2 Mar. 2016
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Linda Kinstler, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2025
With further analogues in Scythian, Latvian, and Hittite, many researchers now think that the early Indo-Europeans prayed to a sky father known as something like Dyeus Puhter.
—Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Once the capital of the Hittite Empire, a Bronze-Age superpower (1650 B.C.E. to 1200 B.C.E.), researchers have uncovered nearly 30,000 clay tablets that contained cuneiform writing.
—Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2025
Per Anatolian Archaeology, ancient rock tombs found in Şanlıurfa usually date to the late Hittite and Roman periods.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2025
Indeed, one of the most famous stories about him is his depravity in condemning a soldier, Uriah the Hittite, to a brutal death so that David could take Uriah’s wife, Bat-Sheva, as his own.
—Jacob F. Love, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2025
Recall the biblical story of King David and his soldier Uriah the Hittite.
—Mark Lilla, Harper's Magazine, 2 Oct. 2024
Researchers believe the text documents a foreign religious ritual of interest to Hittite scribes.
ZAMBIA
Two 476,000-year-old logs uncovered in a riverbed near Kalambo Falls, along with several wood tools, may be the oldest example to date of early humans using wood to build.
—Lori Youmshajekian, Scientific American, 10 Nov. 2023
Until the foundation of Turkey, there had been only two Anatolian states that controlled most of the peninsula: the first was the Hittite Empire in the second millennium BC, and the second was the Turkish Seljuk sultanate from the eleventh to the thirteenth century.
—Halil Karaveli, Foreign Affairs, 2 Mar. 2016
Cite this Entry
“Hittite.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Hittite. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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