Where did the word Aramaic come from?

The word "Aramaic" comes from the ancient Semitic language itself, which was called "Aram" or "Arama". This is the name of the people who spoke the language, who lived in a region known as Aram in ancient Mesopotamia and Syria.

The term "Aramaic" emerged as a way to distinguish the language from other Semitic languages like Hebrew and Arabic. It essentially means "the language of the Arameans".

Therefore, the word "Aramaic" is a direct derivative of the name of the people who spoke the language and the region they inhabited.