210 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society, [Oct. 



triliteral ; and on the other, that the oldest form of the Sanskrit om is 

 oman, and that the " Unadi Sutras" which make av to he its root, 

 were designed to explain the origin of such words whose radicals could 

 not be explained by the ordinary rules of grammar, leaving it thereby 

 very doubtful whether av or any other syllable was the root of it, 



I cannot but think that there is sufficient similitude between the two 

 words to justify the conjecture I have made. 



The next argument in favor of a common origin of the two words 

 is their meaning ; and in that respect there is perfect identity. I 

 have already shewn in my remarks in March 1865, that the Sanskrit 

 om is a particle of assent and means " be it so," " be it confirmed," 



II so be it," from the original etymological meaning " to confirm," 

 "to support," to uphold," &c. It also means "true," "truth," 

 " verily," " yes," and " God." Amen in Greek and Hebrew has 

 exactly the same meaning. Glass, in his Philologica Sacra, says of it : 

 " radix ]DN in Niphal 1DN3 significat firmum, fidum, stabile esse, 

 verificari, confirmari, in Hiphil ^ONil credere, fidere," (p. 396). 

 All the other authorities which I have consulted, supply the same mean- 

 ing. Buxtorfius, in the Lexicon Hebraicum et Chaldaicum, has" ]DN 

 Veritas Jes. 65-16, inde transit in Fidentis et assentientis particulam 

 amen, Deut. xxvii. 15, quasi dicas, ' Firmum, Rite est, Vere, fiat.' In 

 Novo Test, ubi in principio sentential adhibetur, transit in naturam 

 adverbii, et notat asseverationem, reique confirmationem." The differ- 

 ent passages from the Bible quoted in Cruden's " Concordance" point 

 to the same meanings. 



The circumstances too in which the two words are used are 

 identical. The use of the word ' amen' after imprecations in Num. 

 v. 22 and Deut. xxvii. 15, et seq. has its counterpart in the om in 

 the Bhuteah malediction against the English, the translation of which 

 led me to notice the identity of the two words. It would be easy 

 to point out many other instances of the use of om after imprecations. 

 After prayers, om is as universally used by the Hindus, as amen by 

 the Christian Churches. 



" As to the mystic importance attached to the two words, it is well 

 known that the Hindus hold their om in the highest veneration as an 

 emblem of the Deity, and in Isaiah lxv. 16, the expression, " God 



