Seth

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Egyptian deity associated with chaos, storms and the desert ; the third son of Adam and Eve named in the Book of Genesis
2. A god of disorder and violence in ancient Egyptian religion ; a figure in Genesis born after Abel was killed by Cain
3. In Egyptian mythology a powerful god of storms and turmoil ; in the Hebrew Bible a son of the first humans who replaced Abel

Etymology: "Seth" is the name of the third son of Adam and Eve in the Hebrew Bible, the brother who replaced Abel after Cain killed him. The name comes from Biblical Hebrew "šet," meaning "appointed" or "placed," which the Book of Genesis links to Eve's remark that God had given her "another seed" in Abel's place. The Greek form "Sḗth" carried the name into the Septuagint and later Christian writing, and English took it from Greek. The name has a second, older line of descent. Scholars have also proposed that "Sḗth" reflects the Egyptian god "Set" (also spelled "stẖ"), a deity associated with desert, storms and disorder, though the connection is debated. Because the Egyptian and Hebrew forms look similar, the two origins are easy to confuse.