Tav
/tɑːv/noun
The twenty-second and final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, representing a /t/ sound.
Did you know?In Ezekiel 9:4, Tav is described as a mark placed on the foreheads of the righteous, making the letter part of one of the Bible’s earliest symbolic marking rituals.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*taw
“Mark, sign, or identifying symbol”
1st Millennium BCE
Phoenician
𐤕 taw
“The final letter of the Phoenician alphabet, representing /t/; its name meant “mark” or “sign””
Ancient Hebrew
Hebrew
תָּו tav
“The final Hebrew letter, representing /t/ and retaining the sense of a mark or sign”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ταῦ tau
“The Greek letter corresponding to Semitic taw”
Classical Latin
Latin
T
“The Latin letter T, inherited through the Greek alphabet from Phoenician taw”
Modern English
English
tav
“The Hebrew letter ת, commonly transliterated as tav”