alleluiaint.n.

Etymology: < post-classical Latin alleluia, interjection (Vulgate), (noun) denoting the liturgical chant (4th or 5th cent. in Augustine and Jerome) < Hellenistic Greek ἀλληλούια (Septuagint) < Hebrew hallēlūyāh (see hallelujah n.²). Compare Anglo-Norman alleluie , allelue , Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French alleluia , Middle French alleluya , French alléluia (1119 denoting the liturgical chant, 1212 as interjection), Spanish aleluya (13th cent. as †alleluia , †alleluya ), Portuguese aleluia (13th cent. as †alleluya ), Italian alleluia (mid 13th cent. denoting the liturgical chant, second half of the 13th cent. as interjection), and also Middle Dutch allelua , alleluja , Middle High German alleluia , alleluja (German (now rare) alleluia ), interjection and noun. Compare later hallelujah int. and n.²Awareness of the meaning of the interjection in the original Hebrew is implied e.g. by quot. eOE at sense A.; compare the following explanation in an Old English context:OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) v. 51 Alleluia is ebreisc word, þæt is on leden Laudate dominum, and nan gereord nis swa healic swa ebreisc. In Old English the word is often indeclinable, but is sometimes inflected as weak feminine when functioning as a noun. The inflected form allelugeam is perhaps after post-classical Latin accusative singular alleluiam. In Old English and Middle English manuscripts the word is often abbreviated as ałła or similar, after the model of Latin scribal practice. The listed Middle English forms perhaps occasionally reflect editorial decisions on how to expand an abbreviation. N.E.D. (1884) gives the pronunciation as (ælĭlⁱū·iă) /ælɪˈl(j)uːɪə/.