A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1558-1561
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Tau, n. [ME and e.m.E. tau (Cursor M.), taue (1562).] The letter of the Hebrew and Greek alphabets corresponding to T, as a symbol prefiguring the Christian sign of the cross. — 1558 Knox IV 504.
‘Those that did murne and lament for all the abominations done in the citie, in whose foreheades did God commaund to print and seal Tau,’ to the end that the destroyer, who was commaunded to stryke the rest without mercie, should not hurt them in whom that signe was found 1561 Q. Kennedy Compendious Ressonyng (ed.) 182 (G).
The pesefullnes off God causit hym command ane off thaj angelis to pas and mark all sic within that towne quhair the plage was to cum … with that letter tau in thair foirheyd: quhilk is the figure off the croce … and is the last lettre off the Hebrues
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"Tau n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/tau>
