Allelvia

/ə.ˈlɛl.vi.ə/ noun

Definition

An alternative or archaic spelling of alleluja, the exclamation of praise and joy.

Etymology

A variant spelling of alleluja, likely representing different transliterations of Hebrew hallelu-yah as it passed through various languages and printing traditions in medieval and early modern Europe.

Kelly Says

Medieval scribes and printers had no standardized spelling rules, so the same Hebrew word got written dozens of different ways—allelvia is basically what happened when Latin scribes applied their own phonetic rules!

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