ogam

[og-uh m, aw-guh m]

noun

ogham

or og·am

[og-uh m, aw-guh m]

noun

an alphabetical script used originally for inscriptions in an archaic form of Irish, from about the 5th to the 10th centuries.

any of the 20 characters of this script, each consisting of one or more strokes for consonants and of notches for vowels cut across or upon a central line on a stone or piece of wood.

an inscription employing this script.

Origin of ogham

1620–30; < Irish; MIr ogum, ogom

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ogam

Historical Examples of ogam

On two corners of the stone are inscriptions of the usual Ogam characters.
The Swastika
Thomas Wilson
And he wrote these quatrains in Ogam, and then bade them farewell.
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
W. Y. Evans Wentz
The inscriptions upon such stones, when they are inscribed, are usually in Ogam or Runic characters.
In Search Of Gravestones Old And Curious
W.T. (William Thomas) Vincent
It bears an Ogam inscription on two angles of the same face, and debased Roman characters on the front and back.
In Search Of Gravestones Old And Curious
W.T. (William Thomas) Vincent
With regard to the Ogam inscriptions we cannot make any confident assertions.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5
Various

British Dictionary definitions for ogam

ogham

ogam

noun

an ancient alphabetical writing system used by the Celts in Britain and Ireland, consisting of straight lines drawn or carved perpendicular to or at an angle to another long straight line

Word Origin for ogham

C17: from Old Irish ogom, of uncertain origin but associated with the name Ogma, legendary inventor of this alphabet

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ogam

ogham

also ogam, ancient Irish form of writing, 1620s, from Irish ogham, from Old Irish ogam, said to be from name of its inventor, Ogma Mac Eladan. But this appears to be from Celt. *Ogmios, perhaps from PIE *og-mo- "furrow, track," thus metaphorically "incised line." This could be the source of the name of the writing style, which looks like a series of cuts or incised lines, and the inventor's name thus might be folk etymology. Related: Oghamic.