gematria
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of gematria
1685–95; < Hebrew gēmaṭriyā < Greek geōmetría geometry
Explanation
Gematria is the assignment of a number to a letter, word, or phrase, often for a religious or spiritual purpose. It is used especially in the context of Judaism. Gematria comes from the Hebrew word gematriya, a borrowing from the same Greek word that gave us geometry. Though it originated in ancient Assyria and Greece, it became a pillar of Jewish tradition used to interpret the Tanakh (Hebrew scriptures). In ancient Hebrew, there were no separate symbols for numbers, so people used letters to represent numerical values. The numerical values of the letters in a word were added up, and rabbis identified "numerical synonyms" believed to share a spiritual essence. Gematria remains a central element of the mystical tradition known as Kabbalah.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Negative48 spinoff focuses on deciphering meaning using a takeoff of gematria, an ancient Hebrew tradition of assigning numeric values to letters.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 26, 2022
It’s the only literary form for which every letter and number is routinely scrutinized for esoteric messages, using methods ranging from gematria to theomatics to Koranic symmetry to Equidistant Letter Sequences.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 9, 2015
“I’m not going to get too into gematria this evening, but believe me, numbers mean a lot, especially if you’re Jewish,” Mr. Zorn said from the stage, referring to a system of Jewish numerology.
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2014
If we were angling for another appearance in Pseuds Corner - and this is the Guardian, after all - we'd point out that even their gematria values are almost identical: Xavi 56, pass 55.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 11, 2011
This differs somewhat from the ordinary gematria, for which see Farrar, History of Interpretation, 1886, pp.
From A Source Book for Ancient Church History by Joseph Cullen Ayer
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