Manasses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A name borne in the Bible by a son of Joseph, the ancestor of one of Israel's tribes, and by a king of Judah
2. The Old Testament name of a patriarch's son who founded a tribe of Israel, and of a later king of Judah
3. Used in the Bible for the son of Joseph whose descendants formed a tribe, as well as for a king of Judah

Etymology: "Manasses" is the Latin and Greek form of Manasseh, the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel and of a king of Judah in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew name, מְנַשֶּׁה (Mənaše), was carried into Koine Greek as Μανασσῆς (Manassês), with the Greek masculine ending "-s" added, and from there into Latin as "Manasses." English took the name from Latin, so the form you see is a Latin spelling of a Hebrew name rather than a native English word. The Hebrew name is traditionally linked in Genesis to a word meaning "to forget," since Joseph names his firstborn son Manasseh, saying that God has made him forget his hardship. That explanation belongs to the biblical text itself and reflects a folk reading of the name rather than a established etymology of the Hebrew.