Semitic people or Semites is an obsolete term for an ethnic, cultural or racial group formerly used in connection with ancient and modern peoples of the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, including Akkadians, Arabs, Ammonites, Arameans, Canaanites, Edomites, Habesha peoples, Israelites, Jews, Judahites, Moabites, Phoenicians, Samaritans, and others. Use of the terminology is now largely confined to the field of linguistics in reference to "Semitic languages". However, the term is sometimes still used colloquially as a shorthand for Semitic-speaking peoples.