Abraham
Pronunciation
- RP IPA: /ˈeɪ.brÉ™.hæm/, /ˈɑË.brÉ™.hæm/
- US IPA: /ˈeɪ.bɹəˌhæm/, /ˈeɪ.bɹə.həm/
Origin
From Late Latin Ä€braham, from Ancient Greek ἈβÏαάμ, from Hebrew ×Ö·×‘Ö°×¨Ö¸×”Ö¸× (avrahám, "Abraham"). Glossed as ×ַב (av, "father of") + הֲמוֹן (hamón, "multitude of") in :4–5; or from Hebrew ×Ö·×‘Ö°×¨Ö¸× (avrám, "Abram").
Full definition of Abraham
Proper noun
Abraham
(plural Abrahams)- (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha'i) A prophet in the Old Testament, Qur'an and Aqdas; a Semitic patriarch who preached monotheism, father of the Jewish patriarch Isaac and the Arab patriarch Ishmael. First attested prior to 1150.
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, 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), chapter 7, page 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.
- . First attested prior to 1150.
- 1961, Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night, Dell (1975), page 28:"Lincoln wasn't a Jew, was he?" he said. "I'm sure not," I said. - - - "The name Abraham is very suspicious, to say the least," said Goebbels. "I'm sure his parents didn't realize that it was a Jewish name," I said. "They must have just liked the sound of it. They were simple frontier people. If they'd known the name was Jewish, I'm sure they would have called him something more American, like George or Stanley or Fred."
- . First attested prior to 1150.
- The 14th sura (chapter) of the Quran
Synonyms
- (Semitic patriarch) Abram