ogdoad
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈɔɡdəˌæd/
- Archaic
:
ogdoada
- The ancient myth described an ogdoad of primordial deities.
Examples
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The ancient Egyptians revered the ogdoad as a group of eight deities.
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An ogdoad consists of eight elements in mathematics.
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An ogdoad of cells appeared after the eighth division in the embryo.
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Each section of the artwork featured an ogdoad of identical patterns.
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In ancient Egyptian mythology, the ogdoad consisted of eight primordial deities who represented the chaos before creation.
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The mathematician explained that an ogdoad can be formed by combining two groups of four.
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She had a set of eight paintings, which she referred to as her ogdoad of art.
Synonyms
3
1.0
A group of the number after seven people or things, for example a boat with that many rowers
1
6.6
A group of eight things treated as one unit, often in computing
A group of eight people or things
The number eight
Surface Forms
Morphology
ogdoad = ogdo + ad
Though analyzable historically as Greek ogdo- 'eight' + collective suffix -ad, the components are not recognizable productive English morphemes to an average B1 learner, so the meaning is not transparently derived.
Etymology
Ogdoad comes from an old Greek word ogdoe meaning 'eight'. It is like octagon or octet, which also mean 'eight', so an ogdoad is a group or set of eight.