Old Testament
Meanings
name
- The first major part of the Christian Bible, covering events before the coming of Christ, corresponding roughly to the Jewish Tanakh. Usually subdivided into the categories of law, history, poetry (or wisdom books), and prophecy.
adj
- Reminiscent of the content of the Old Testament, or of the behavior of God in it; especially dramatic, violent or vengeful.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Middle English Olde Testament, calqued from Latin Vetus Testāmentum. Old refers to ancientness, not to obsolescence. Equivalent to a retronym, by comparison with the New Testament.
Synonyms
Related words
Derived words
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.