septuagint

septuagint · noun¹

1. Latin · borrowed fromseptuaginta“seven tens, 70”
2. English todayseptuagint

From Latin septuaginta (“seven tens, 70”), chiefly under the influence of the Septuagint and the story of its team of translators, q.v.

Septuagint · proper noun²

1. Late Latin · derived fromSeptuaginta
2. English todaySeptuagint

From Late Latin Septuaginta, lit. "The Seventy", a clipping of earlier descriptional names such as septuaginta translatio (“translation by the seventy”) and septuaginta interpretes (“the 70 interpreters”), calques of Koine Greek names such as οἱ ἐβδομήκοντα ἑρμηνευταί (hoi ebdomḗkonta hermēneutaí, “the 70 interpreters”) and οἱ Ο′ (hoi O′, “the LXX”), deriving from the popular (but probably mistaken) belief that its translation of the Torah had been produced in 72 days by a team of 72 Jewish scholars from Jerusalem (6 from each tribe) summoned to Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy II.

Words from the same roots