ד The fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Its name, ‘Daleth’, lit. means ‘door’ (see דֶּלֶת); so called in allusion to the ancient Heb. form of this letter, representing a house (cp. דֶּלְתָּא). In PBH it has the numerical value four. ד alternates with ז (cp. e.g. גדד and גזז, נדר and נזר, דרשׁ and זרשׁ, Heb. דְּבוֹרָה and JAram. זִיבּוֹרָא). It also alternates with ט (cp. Heb. דִּבָּה, Aram. טִבָּא and Syr. טֶבָּא). ד also alternates with ת (cp. e.g. בדל and בתל, בדק ᴵ and בתק). In Arab. the corresponding consonant is d, sometimes dh (cp. e.g. חדל with Arab. ḥadhala, נדר with Arab. nadhara, קדר with Arab. qadhara). For the interchangeability of ד and ל cp. L. lacruma, lacrima (= tear), from Old L. dacruma, which is a loan word from Gk. dakruma. cp. also L. Ulixes, equivalent to Gk. Odysseus.