Definition of "Cushite"

Similarly, in the Hamitic area, the Berber languages of the north-west are clearly distinguished from Ful, and these, again, from the Nilotic languages, which, in their turn, are quite distinct from the “Cushite” languages in the east (i.e. Somali, Galla, Saho, Bedauye, etc.).

1915, Carl Meinhof, translated by A. Werner, An Introduction to the Study of African Languages, London: J. M. Dent & Sons, page 150

The numerous Cushite languages of East Africa make up another branch of Afroasiatic and can be separated for convenience into five subgroups—northern, central, eastern, western, and southern. […] The northern branch of Cushite consists of a number of closely related dialects of which Bedauye, the best known, may be taken as representative.

1990, [Joseph H. Greenberg], “Internal a- Plurals in Afroasiatic (Hamito-Semitic) (1955)”, in Keith Denning, Suzanne Kemmer, editors, On Language: Selected Writings of Joseph H. Greenberg, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, page 401

In the second language category are Cushite speakers. Cushite is a subdivison of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Cushite speakers live in areas stretching from the coast of the Red Sea across the Horn of Africa.

1995, David M. Helgren, Robert J. Sager, World Geography Today, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, page 454