ogam

[og-uh m, aw-guh m]

noun

Nearby words

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

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
The language of the Ogam inscriptions is very ancient and nearly the same forms occur as in what we know of Old Gaulish.
The Glories of Ireland|Edited by Joseph Dunn and P.J. Lennox
Ogam is an alphabet suitable enough for chiselling upon stones, but too cumbrous for the purposes of literature.
The Glories of Ireland|Edited by Joseph Dunn and P.J. Lennox
It may, however, be regarded as certain that the Ogam script was never employed in early times for literary purposes.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5|Various

And he wrote these quatrains in Ogam, and then bade them farewell.
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries|W. Y. Evans Wentz

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.