Thoth

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An ancient Egyptian deity depicted with the head of an ibis, associated with wisdom, writing, measurement and the moon
2. The Egyptian god of learning, scribes and magic, often shown as an ibis-headed figure who recorded the judgments of the dead
3. A divinity of ancient Egypt, usually pictured with an ibis head, regarded as the patron of writing, knowledge and mathematics

Etymology: Thoth was the Egyptian god of writing, wisdom, and the moon, usually shown with the head of an ibis. His name in Egyptian was "ḏḥwtj," which meant "he who is like the ibis," so the bird came first and the god's identity followed from it. Greek speakers borrowed the name as "Thṓth," and English took it from Latin "Thōth," so the word reached us by a route that ran through Greek and Latin rather than directly from Egypt. The Coptic form "Thōout," the later stage of the Egyptian language, shows the same name persisting in Egypt itself long after the pharaonic period. English uses the word almost only as a proper name for this deity, though it has also been applied to the Tarot card and to other things linked to the god's domain of learning.