Mesorah
/məˈsoʊ.rə/noun
The traditional Jewish system of transmitting, preserving, and annotating the Hebrew biblical text.
Did you know?The Masoretes preserved not only Hebrew consonants but also pronunciation, accentuation, and reading traditions through elaborate marginal notes and counting systems.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic period
Proto-Semitic
*m-s-r
“A reconstructed root associated with handing over, delivering, or transmitting”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
מסר (masar)
“To hand over, deliver, or transmit”
Late Second Temple period
Hebrew/Aramaic
מסורת (masoret)
“A received tradition or transmitted practice”
Rabbinic period
Rabbinic Hebrew
מסורה (mesorah)
“Tradition or the authoritative transmission of sacred teaching”
7th–10th centuries
Hebrew
המסורה (ha-mesorah)
“The textual tradition developed and recorded by the Masoretes, including vowels and cantillation”
19th century
English
mesorah
“An English loanword for the Jewish tradition of preserving and transmitting the Hebrew biblical text”
Explore more surprising origins