Tetragrammaton

[ te-truh-gram-uh-ton ]

noun
  1. the Hebrew word for God, consisting of the four letters yod, he, waw, and he, transliterated consonantally usually as YHWH, now pronounced as Adonai or Elohim in substitution for the original pronunciation forbidden since the 2nd or 3rd century b.c.

Origin of Tetragrammaton

1
1350–1400; Middle English <Greek tetragrámmaton, noun use of neuter of tetragrámmatos having four letters, equivalent to tetra-tetra- + grammat- (stem of grámma) letter + -os adj. suffix

Words Nearby Tetragrammaton

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How to use Tetragrammaton in a sentence

  • The Space Viking was asking him if he knew what sort of a place Tetragrammaton was.

    Space Viking | Henry Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for Tetragrammaton

Tetragrammaton

/ (ˌtɛtrəˈɡræmətən) /


noun
  1. Bible the Hebrew name for God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 3), consisting of the four consonants Y H V H (or Y H W H) and regarded by Jews as too sacred to be pronounced. It is usually transliterated as Jehovah or Yahweh: Sometimes shortened to: Tetragram

Origin of Tetragrammaton

1
C14: from Greek, from tetragrammatos having four letters, from tetra- + gramma letter

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