Uriah

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A masculine personal name of Hebrew origin, best known from a Hittite soldier in the Hebrew Bible whose wife was taken by King David
2. A male given name of Hebrew origin, most famously borne by a Hittite warrior in the Old Testament who was killed on King David's orders
3. A traditional Hebrew male first name, recalled chiefly through a Hittite soldier of the Bible whose wife Bathsheba became David's wife

Etymology: Uriah is a personal name, and its meaning is recorded in Biblical Hebrew as "ūriyyā," which translates roughly as "God is my light." The name is built from the Hebrew for "light" (or "flame") combined with a divine element, a common pattern in Hebrew names that pairs a theophoric element with a word expressing a hope or quality. The name is best known from the Hebrew Bible, where Uriah the Hittite is the husband of Bathsheba and is sent to his death in battle by King David. That story gives the name its strongest association in English, where it appears as a given name for men in the Anglo-Christian tradition, carried by the Old Testament figure rather than by any later bearer.