A transliteration of the four constants forming the Hebrew tetragrammaton or “incommunicable name” of the Supreme Being, which in latter Jewish tradition is not pronounced save with the vowels of
adonai or
elohim, so that the true pronunciation is lost.
" Numerous attempts have been made to represent the supposed original form of the word, as Jahaveh, Jahvaj, Jahve, Jahveh, Yahve, Yahveh, Yahwe, Yahweh, etc."
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]