gematria
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English
Etymology
From Aramaic , from Ancient Greek γεωμετρία (geōmetría, “geometry”). Doublet of geometry.
Pronunciation
Noun
gematria (countable and uncountable, plural gematrias or gematriot)
- A cabalistic method of interpreting Hebrew words, based on numerical values of letters.
- 1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon:
- Suppose a secret force of Jesuits, receives each Day a summary of Observations made at Greenwich, and transcalculates it according to a system known to the Kabbalists of the Second Century as Gematria, whereby Messages may be extracted from lines of Text sacred and otherwise, a Knowledge preserv’d by various Custodians over the centuries, and since the Last, possess’d by Jesuit and Freemason alike.
- 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 897:
- each letter in this alphabet also has its own numerical value, what was known among ancient Jewish students of the Torah as ‘gematria’.