A person from the ancient city of Gath in biblical Palestine, often mentioned in Old Testament accounts of conflicts between Israelites and Philistines.
From Hebrew Gittim, referring to Gath, combined with the English suffix -ite meaning 'a person from' or 'a member of.' The city Gath was one of the five major Philistine cities in ancient Canaan.
The Gittites appear in some of the most famous biblical stories—they're Philistines, the same people David famously fought, yet some Gittites actually became loyal supporters of King David in later accounts, showing how ancient rivals sometimes became allies.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.