What does tav mean?
The English tav is the conventional name for the twenty-third and final letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is used when discussing Hebrew writing, transliteration, typography, or religious and educational texts, and it normally appears as a proper letter name rather than an ordinary English noun. In standard Modern Hebrew, tav represents /t/; historical readings and some Ashkenazi traditions give it a /θ/ sound. The English spelling tav is the usual transliteration, although taw occurs as an alternative. The letter’s Hebrew name also means “mark,” a semantic fact reflected in the traditional name. The word is therefore especially useful to readers of Hebrew alphabets, manuscripts, and linguistic scholarship. Outside those contexts, tav has little independent use, and its meaning should be understood as the character itself rather than as a generic sound or symbol.
nounThe twenty-third and final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, transliterated in English as tav. In standard Modern Hebrew it represents the consonant /t/, although it has a /θ/ value in some historical and Ashkenazi traditions.
- The twenty-third and final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, transliterated as tav and representing the consonant /t/ in standard Modern Hebrew.
"Tav is the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet."
"Tav is the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet."
"The crossword clue referred to the Hebrew letter tav."
The plural refers to multiple instances or occurrences of the Hebrew letter.
"The manuscript contains two tavs on its final line."
Tav closes the Hebrew alphabet—and its name means “mark.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tav come from?
The word tav is an English transliteration of Hebrew ת, tav, the name of the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The name tav is also the Hebrew word for “mark” and underlies the letter’s traditional name. The Greek letter tau is conventionally traced to the same Phoenician letter tradition, although the English name tav is taken directly from Hebrew.
How tav is actually used
Tav is chiefly a reference word used in discussions of Hebrew script, transliteration, typography, and textual traditions. It normally names the character rather than the sound; Modern Hebrew represents it as /t/, while some historical and Ashkenazi pronunciations use /θ/.
Easily confused with tav
Taw is an alternative English transliteration of the same Hebrew letter; tav is the more usual modern spelling.