English
Tetragrammaton
Tetragrammaton comes from Ancient Greek τετραγράμματον ‘four-letter word’, and goes back to τετραγράμματος.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτετραγράμματοςtetragrámmatos‘having four letters’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEτετραγράμματονtetragrámmaton‘four-letter word’neuter gender of τετραγράμματος
- Englishearliest quotation 1971Tetragrammaton
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτετραγράμματοςtetragrámmatos‘having four letters’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEτετραγράμματονtetragrámmaton‘four-letter word’neuter gender of τετραγράμματος
- Englishearliest quotation 1971Tetragrammaton
Earliest quotation: 1971, Jonathan P. Siegel: “The starting point of this discussion was Origen’s much-debated…”
A compound of τέτταρες ‘four’ + γράμμα ‘letter’
Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’
Proto-Hellenic *grə́pʰō ‘to scratch, cut or carve into’
Ancient Greek γρᾰ́φω ‘to write’
Ancient Greek γράμμα ‘letter’
Every English word from Ancient Greek τετραγράμματος
Today it means
noun The word in four Hebrew letters יהוה (in transliteration as YHWH or JHVH) used as the ineffable name of God in the Hebrew Bible, variously rendered as Yahweh or Jehovah.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek τετραγράμματος / Tetragrammaton