Old Testament
Old Testament proper noun: the first major part of the Christian Bible, covering events before the coming of Christ, corresponding roughly to the Jewish Tanakh. Usually subdivided into the categories of law, history, poetry (or wisdom books), and prophecy.
Proper noun
the Old Testament
- The first major part of the Christian Bible, covering events before the coming of Christ, corresponding roughly to the Jewish Tanakh. Usually subdivided into the categories of law, history, poetry (or wisdom books), and prophecy.
- Holonym: Bible
- The Old Testament says that eating shellfish is a sin.
- Synonyms:
- Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Scriptures
Adjective
Old Testament (comparative more Old Testament, superlative most Old Testament)
- Reminiscent of the content of the Old Testament, or of the behavior of God in it; especially dramatic, violent or vengeful.
- Given the Old Testament weather that defines the country, it's little wonder that religious faith became the cornerstone of the land and the people who stayed. I've seen hailstorms and tornadoes roll in over those fields with no more warning than God allowed Job2007 December 18, Gail Caldwell, A Strong West Wind: A Memoir, Random House, →ISBN
- "Walter is a peaceful man, but I have a feeling that when it comes to you, he could get Old Testament."2019 October 21, Jana DeLeon, Swamp Santa, Jana DeLeon, →ISBN
Old Testament meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
Old Testament in Hindi
- first half of the Christian Bible
- पुराना नियम purānā niyam
Old Testament in Tamil
- பழைய ஏற்பாடு
Old Testament in Marathi
- first half of the Christian Bible
- जुना करार junā karār
Old Testament in Urdu
- first half of the Christian Bible
- عَہَد نامَہ قَدِیم ʻahad nāma qadīm
More languagesFewer languages
- Old Testament in Bengali
- পুরাতন নিয়ম puraton niẏom, পুরানো ইচ্ছাপত্র puranō icchapotro, ধর্ম্মপুস্তকের আদিভাগ dhormmopustoker adibhag
- Old Testament in Telugu
- పాత నిబంధన pāta nibandhana
- Old Testament in Tagalog
- Lumang Tipan
- Old Testament in Arabic
- اَلْعَهْد اَلْقَدِيم al-ʕahd al-qadīm
- Old Testament in Malay
- Perjanjian Lama
- Old Testament in Indonesian
- Perjanjian Lama
- Old Testament in Persian
- عهد عتیق 'ahd-e 'atiq
- Old Testament in Vietnamese
- Cựu Ước
- Old Testament in Myanmar
- ဓမ္မဟောင်းကျမ်း dhamma.haung:kyam:
Synonyms of Old Testament
Forms of Old Testament
| comparative | more Old Testament |
|---|---|
| superlative | most Old Testament |
Origin of Old Testament
From Middle English Olde Testament, calqued from Latin Vetus Testāmentum. Old refers to ancientness, not to obsolescence. Equivalent to a retronym, by comparison with the New Testament.
Words formed from Old Testament
Questions about Old Testament
- What does Old Testament mean?
- Old Testament means the first major part of the Christian Bible, covering events before the coming of Christ, corresponding roughly to the Jewish Tanakh. Usually subdivided into the categories of law, history, poetry (or wisdom books), and prophecy.
- What is Old Testament in Hindi?
- Old Testament in Hindi is पुराना नियम (purānā niyam). See Old Testament meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is Old Testament?
- Old Testament can be a proper noun or an adjective.
Words near Old Testament in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Old Testament (page history and authors); Old Testament (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-Old Testament.ogg.
Cite this entry: “Old Testament.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/old_testament. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.