definition of the word abraham

From Late Latin Abraham < Ancient Greek Ἀβραάμ (Abraam) < Hebrew אַבְרָהָם (ʾAḇrāhām). Glossed as אָב (av = 'father') + המון (hamon = 'multitude') "father of a multitude (of nations)" in Genesis; or from Hebrew אַבְרָם, 'exalted father' or '[my] father is exalted', from אָב (av = 'father') + רָם (ram = 'high', 'lofty').

• (RP) IPA: /ˈeɪbrəhæm/, /ˈɑːbrəhæm/
• (US) IPA: /ˈeɪbrəhæm/, SAMPA: /"eIbr@h{m/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

Abraham

1. (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) A prophet in the Old Testament and Koran; the Semitic patriarch, father of the Jewish patriarch Isaac (by his wife Sarah) and the Arab patriarch Ishmael (by his concubine Hagar).
2. A male given name.
3. A surname.

• 1611 — King James Version of the Bible, Genesis 17:5

  Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but they name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

• 1980 — Werner Keller, The Bible as History (tr. by William Neil), ch.7, p 93

  As one would expect of caravan people around 1900 B.C., the caravan people depicted in the Khnum-hotpe grave had donkeys, whereas the Bible says that Abraham and his people, who according to the traditional interpretation are supposed to have lived at the same period, already possessed camels.

• (Semitic patriarch): Abram

• Abrahamic

Definition from Wiktionary Content avaible with GNU Free Documentation License

---

2007-2012 © wordbyletter.com

---