Gematria
/ɡəˈmeɪtriə/noun
A method of interpreting words or names by assigning numerical values to their letters.
Did you know?Rabbinic Jewish interpreters used gematria to connect words with equal numerical values, treating numerical correspondence as a clue to deeper scriptural meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*meh₁-
“To measure or ascertain the extent of something”
Ancient Greek
Greek
γεωμετρία (geōmetría)
“Measurement of the earth; geometry”
Late Antiquity
Greek
γεωμετρία (geōmetría)
“Geometry, the measurement of spatial quantities”
Late Antique or Early Medieval Period
Hebrew
גימטריא (gimatria)
“A method of interpreting Hebrew words through the numerical values of their letters, borrowed and reshaped from Greek”
Medieval Hebrew
Hebrew
גימטרייה (gimṭriyyā)
“Numerical interpretation of words, especially in Jewish scriptural exegesis”
17th Century
English
gematria
“A system of interpreting Hebrew words by their numerical equivalence”