Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
  • noun A scroll of parchment containing the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, used in a synagogue during services.
  • noun The entire body of religious law and learning including both sacred literature and oral tradition.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In ancient Hebrew literature, any decision or instruction in matters of law and conduct given by a sacred authority; the revealed will of God; specifically, the (Mosaic) law; hence, the book of the law, the Pentateuch.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A law; a precept.
  • noun Divine instruction; revelation.
  • noun The Pentateuch or “Law of Moses.”

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, attributed to Moses and therefore also known as the Five Books of Moses.
  • proper noun The full body of written Jewish law, including the Tanakh, the Talmud, the Mishnah and the midrashic texts.
  • proper noun The whole of Jewish law, both written and unwritten.
  • proper noun The encompassing philosophy of Judaism.
  • noun A specially written scroll containing the five books of Moses, such as those used in religious services.
  • noun A book containing the five books of Moses.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (Judaism) the scroll of parchment on which the first five books of the Hebrew Scripture is written; is used in a synagogue during services
  • noun the first of three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures comprising the first five books of the Hebrew Bible considered as a unit
  • noun the whole body of the Jewish sacred writings and tradition including the oral tradition

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Hebrew tôrâ, law, instruction, from hôrâ, to throw, direct, teach, derived stem of yārâ, to throw, shoot; see wrw in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Hebrew תורה ("instruction, law or teaching").

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