# beth

Pronunciation: say "BETH" /bɛθ/

## Noun

1. The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, represented by the character ב.
   - Simple: The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, written ב.
   - _A small dot inside the beth tells the reader to harden its sound._
   - _Students learning the alphabet write aleph and beth on their first day._
2. The second letter of the Aramaic alphabet, represented by the character 𐡁.
   - Simple: The second letter of the Aramaic alphabet, written 𐡁.
   - _The faded ink left only the upper stroke of the beth legible on the papyrus._
   - _Merchants signing their accounts often opened a name with a bold beth._
3. The second letter of the Syriac alphabet, represented by the character ܒ.
   - Simple: The second letter of the Syriac alphabet, written ܒ.
   - _The copyist joined the beth smoothly to the letter that followed it._
   - _A learner traced the curve of the beth until the shape felt natural._

## Origin

The name comes ultimately from Proto-Semitic *bayt- ("house"), derived by acrophony from a Middle Bronze Age picture of a house. It is a doublet of beta.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/beth (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).