tetragrammaton · 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. It carries an Arena rating of 1566, earned across 57 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, tetragrammaton ranks #10 of 17,163 for Most Sublime Words, #18 of 17,130 for Most Ponderous Words, #416 of 17,165 for Most Satisfying to Say, #741 of 43,061 for Qualifying.
Why “tetragrammaton” is a great word
The ineffable personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible, represented by the four-letter theonym יהוה (YHWH). From the Ancient Greek τετραγράμματον (tetragrámmaton, "four-letter word"), from τέτταρες (téttares, "four") and γράμμα (grámma, "letter"), attested in English c. 1400 via Late Latin. Unlike Elohim, a general term for divine power and plurality, or Adonai, a deferential title spoken in its stead, the Tetragrammaton is the unpronounceable core itself—four consonants held in the mouth like a held breath. It is the parchment worn smooth by reverent eyes, the ancient scribal practice of writing Lord in smaller characters above the sacred four, and the particular silence that falls when the reader approaches that word in the text: the moment when language, having brought us to the threshold, must admit its own insufficiency and step back into shadow.
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Etymology
From Ancient Greek τετραγράμματον (tetragrámmaton, “four-letter word”), neuter gender of τετραγράμματος (tetragrámmatos, “having four letters”), formed from a combining form of τέτταρες (téttares, “four”) and γράμμα (grámma, “letter”).
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.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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