staurogram
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From stauro- + -gram. Coined c. 1970 as a parallel of Christogram,[1] earlier (1870s) the τρ ligature was referred to as monogrammatic cross. German Staurogramm in the same sense possibly slightly earlier (1960s); the German word was used earlier (1840s) only in the sense of a geometric configuration in crystallography; similarly, New Latin Staurogramma before 1970 only as systematic name of a genus of Bacillariophyceae (L. Rabenhorst, 1853).
Noun edit
staurogram (plural staurograms)
- A ligature, ⳨, of the Greek letters τ and ρ or Coptic letters ⲧ and ⲣ, later used as a symbol of the cross in early Christianity and remaining in use as a ligature in abbreviations of the words σταυρός and σταυρόω.[2]
References edit
- ^ M. Black, “The Chi-Rho Sign—Christogram and/or Staurogram?” Apostolic History and the Gospel: Essays Presented to F.F. Bruce (eds. W.W. Gasque and R.P. Martin (1970), 319–327.
- ^ Larry W. Hurtado, “The Staurogram in Early Christian Manuscripts: The Earliest Visual Reference to the Crucified Jesus?”, in Thomas J. Kraus & Tobias Nicklas (eds.), New Testament Manuscripts: Their Texts and Their World, 207-226.
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Likely borrowed from German Staurogramm.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
staurogram n (plural staurogrammen)
- (historical, Christianity) staurogram (ligature and symbol of the cross)