Masorete
/məˈsɔː.riːt/noun
A member of the Jewish scholarly tradition that transmitted, edited, and vocalized the Hebrew Bible between roughly the sixth and tenth centuries CE.
Did you know?The Masoretes developed systems of vowel points and chanting accents that helped preserve how the previously mostly consonantal Hebrew Bible was read aloud.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical and Late Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
מסר (m-s-r)
“To hand over, deliver, or transmit; the root associated with passing something on.”
Late Antiquity
Hebrew/Aramaic
מָסוֹרֶת (masoret)
“Tradition or transmitted teaching.”
6th–10th Century CE
Hebrew
בַּעֲלֵי הַמָּסוֹרָה (ba'alei ha-masorah)
“The masters or custodians of the tradition—the scholars later called Masoretes.”
Medieval Latin
Latin
Masoreta
“A Masoretic scholar or transmitter of the Hebrew textual tradition.”
16th Century
English
Masorete
“An English term for a member of the Jewish school responsible for preserving and annotating the Hebrew Scriptures.”
Modern English
English
Masorete
“A scholar associated with the Masoretic tradition of Hebrew biblical transmission and vocalization.”