alleluia

Forms

allēlūia ^[1] Usually indeclinable, but Cassian has a genitive alleluiae.^[2] Also spelled hallēlūia.^[3][4] Paulinus of Nola scans the second syllable long, Prudentius and Sidonius short.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀλληλούϊα (allēloúïa),^[1] which is from Biblical Hebrew הַלְּלוּיָהּ (halləlūyɔh, “praise Jah”),^[1][6] made of הַלְּלוּ (halləlū, “praise!”) and יָהּ (yɔh), a short form of the divine name.^[1][3] Lewis and Short, Georges and Gaffiot call the Latin word simply Hebrew.^[5][3][4] Jerome explained it as ⟨laudate dominum⟩, “praise the Lord”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian is the first to use it, in his treatise on prayer, where he notes that the more careful add “alleluia” to their prayers.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Marius Victorinus, Jerome, Augustine and Isidore note that alleluia and amen are said unchanged in every language.^[2] The Vulgate has it at the head of several psalms and in the Apocalypse,^[2][5] and Jerome and Augustine speak of it as sung in church, Augustine on certain days of the year.^[2]

In the medieval liturgy it was the chant sung at mass, left out from Septuagesima Sunday until Easter; an English court record of 1199 dates an event by “the Saturday on which alleluia is closed”.^[8] Niermeyer glosses it as a song of praise.^[9] The MLW also records it as a proper name, a name for bells, and, as a feminine noun in botany, for wood sorrel and stork's-bill.^[10] English took it from Latin in the late 14th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian mentions it in prayers.^[2][7][11]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome explains it as “praise the Lord” and describes it being sung.^[2][11]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the psalms and the Apocalypse.^[5][2][11]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius scans the second syllable short.^[2][5][11]
• 1199 – An English court record dates by the closing of the alleluia.^[8]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as alleluia.^[6]

Meanings

Interjection

1. (Christianity) hallelujah, praise the Lord: a cry of praise to God.^[5][12][4]

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The chant of alleluia sung at mass; a song of praise.^[8][9]
2. (Medieval Latin, botany) wood sorrel; also stork's-bill.^[10]

Word family

• allēlūiāticus

Related words

• āmēn
• English hallelujah

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson