Mas(s)orah

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Mas(s)orah body of tradition relating to the text of the Hebrew Bible. XVII (earlier masoreth). repr. Heb. māsōreth, in Exod. 20: 37 interpreted ‘bond (of the covenant)’, f. 'āsar bind, in post-biblical Heb. in the sense ‘tradition’, as if f. māsar hand down.
So Mas(s)orete one who contributed to this. XVI. — F. Massoret and modL Massōrēta; orig. misapplication of masoreth, with subseq. assim. of the ending to L. -ēta, Gr. -ētēs.