1. \Ca"naan*ite\, n.
   1. A descendant of Canaan, the son of Ham, and grandson of
      Noah.
   2. A Native or inhabitant of the land of Canaan, esp. a
      member of any of the tribes who inhabited Canaan at the
      time of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.
   

2. \Ca"naan*ite\, n. [From an Aramaic word signifying
   ``zeal.'']
   A zealot. ``Simon the Canaanite.'' --Matt. x. 4.
   Note: This was the ``Simon called Zelotes'' (--Luke vi. 15),
         i.e., Simon the zealot. --Kitto.
   

a name given to the apostle Simon (Matt. 10:4; Mark 3:18). The word here does not, however, mean a descendant of Canaan, but is a translation, or rather almost a transliteration, of the Syriac word Kanenyeh (R.V. rendered "Cananaen"), which designates the Jewish sect of the Zealots. Hence he is called elsewhere (Luke 6:15) "Simon Zelotes;" i.e., Simon of the sect of the Zealots. (See SIMON.)