English
Torah
Torah comes from Hebrew תּוֹרָה ‘instruction, law or teaching’, and goes back to Proto-West Semitic *waraw- ‘to throw, cast, lead, guide’.
- Proto-West Semiticprehistoric (reconstructed)*waraw-‘to throw, cast, lead, guide’root as named · steps between not traced
- Hebrew1880s–presentתּוֹרָהtōrā‘instruction, law or teaching’
- Englishearliest quotation 2008Torah
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-West Semiticprehistoric (reconstructed)*waraw-‘to throw, cast, lead, guide’root as named · steps between not traced
- Hebrew1880s–presentתּוֹרָהtōrā‘instruction, law or teaching’
- Englishearliest quotation 2008Torah
Earliest quotation: 2008, Walid A. Saleh, The University of Chicago Press: “The Jews were denying that the punishment was stoning,…”
Every English word from Proto-West Semitic *waraw-
Today it means
name The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, traditionally attributed to Moses and therefore also known as the Five Books of Moses.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Semitic *waraw- / Torah