Masoriten.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 179 Martinius affirmeth, That these Masorites inuented the prickes wherewith the Hebrew is now read.

1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 62 Why..should they be such crabbed masorites of the Letter, as not to mollifie a transcendence of literal rigidity.

a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) viii. 132 Whereas by the Mazorite Points and Chaldee Character the old Letter stands so transformed, that [etc.].

1759 M. Pilkington Remarks Script. v. 15 We are not able to ascertain who the Masorites or Traditionists were, that settled the present Standard of the Hebrew Scriptures.

1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature II. 236 The Masorites and Cabbalists.

1827 J. Townley tr. Reasons Laws Moses 35 The Masorites or Mazoretes..were the first who distinguished the books and sections of the books of Scripture into verses.

1866 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 8 p. ix Karaism was a revival of Sadducism... The way of it was prepared:..2d., by the Masorite speculations of the 6th century.

1883 Times 27 Dec. 5/1 The current practice of devout Mussulmans [sc. learning the Koran by heart]..will enable us to understand a similar feat accomplished by the early Massorites in the schools of Tiberias and Babylon.

1926 Amer. Jrnl. Semitic Langs. & Lit. 43 3 The Masorites never so point it at the end of proper names but only at the beginning.

1960 Speculum 35 295 The main systems of vocalization and the work of the Massorites are also given special attention.

2003 Observer-Dispatch (Utica, N.Y.) (Nexis) 20 June 1 The hardest part is learning the musical notation, Masorite notes that have been passed down orally since the 10th century, Gerstein said.