The TRUE definition of SEMITE does not refer to race, or religion, but rather LINGUISTICS “Semites are people of the Middle East and Africa who speak one of the Semitic languages, which are branches of the Afro-Asiatic family.”

From "Shemi," Hebrew word from the name of Shem, son of Noah, who, according to Biblical tradition, was the eponymous ancestor of the Semites. Semites are people of the Middle East and Africa who speak one of the Semitic languages, which are branches of the Afro-Asiatic family. Examples of such languages are Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew.