Ten Commandments
proper noun
Forms the Ten Commandments
- proper noun (biblical) A particular list of religious and moral imperatives which, according to the Old Testament of the Bible or the Hebrew Bible, were twice given or dictated by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and inscribed on two stone tablets.
- proper noun (by extension) A list of principal rules in a given field.
- proper noun (slang, dated) The ten fingernails, used by women when fighting.
Synonyms
Etymology
Calque of Biblical Hebrew עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים ('aséret had'varím, “the ten items”), from Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13 and Deuteronomy 10:4.
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “Ten Commandments”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details