Þ

[ th ][ Nf. þ, ð ]

Phö.

Ara.

Gri. 08 Θ, θ (ϑ) Theta (θῆτα)

Etr.

Lat.

Rune 03. ᚦ þurisaz „Riese“ þ (engl. th / Theta), Thurisaz oder Thornuz

Ahd. þ

Dt.

Z-Wert 9

Winkel θ plane angle

• Ursprung
  • derived from the Phoenician letter Teth 𐤈.
  • siehe verschiedene Formen unter Forms
  • When printing was introduced to Great Britain, Caxton and other English printers used Y in place of Þ (thorn: Modern English th), which did not exist in continental typefaces. From this convention comes the spelling of the as ye in the mock archaism Ye Olde Shoppe. But, in spite of the spelling, pronunciation was the same as for modern the (stressed /ðiː/, unstressed /ðə/). Pronouncing the article ye as yee (/jiː/) is purely a modern spelling pronunciation.^[8]
  • Thurisaz oder Thornuz (ᚦ) ist die dritte Rune des älteren Futhark und des altnordischen Runenalphabets^[1] mit dem Lautwert th. Die rekonstruierten urgermanischen Namen bedeuten „Riese“ (Thurse) oder „Dorn“.^[2] Sie erscheinen in den Runengedichten als altnordisch þurs, altenglisch þorn bzw. gotisch thyth.^[3]
    • The rune is absent from the earliest Vimose inscriptions, but it is found in the Thorsberg chapeinscription, dated to ca. AD 200.
    • In Anglo-Saxon England, the same rune was called Thorn or "Þorn" and it survives as the Icelandicletter Þ (þ). An attempt has been made to account for the substitution of names by taking "thorn" to be a kenning (metaphor) for "giant".
• Verwendung
  • siehe Verwendung Theta
  • In ancient times, Tau was used as a symbol for life or resurrection, whereas the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, theta, was considered the symbol of death.
  • According to Porphyry of Tyros, the Egyptians used an X within a circle as a symbol of the soul; having a value of nine, it was used as a symbol for Ennead. Johannes Lydus says that the Egyptians used a symbol for Kosmos in the form of theta, with a fiery circle representing the world, and a snake spanning the middle representing Agathos Daimon (literally: good spirit).^[
    • The Egyptians also used the symbol of a point within a circle (, the sun disc) to represent the sun, which might be a possible origin of its use as the Sun's astrological glyph. It is worthwhile to note that θῆτα (theta) has the same numerical value in isopsephy as Ηλιος (Helios): 318.
  • In classical Athens, it was used as an abbreviation for the Greek θάνατος (thanatos, “death”) and as it vaguely resembles a human skull,^{[citation needed]} theta was used as a warning symbol of death, in the same way that skull and crossbones are used in modern times. It survives on potsherds used by Athenians when voting for the death penalty.^[3] Petrus de Dacia in a document from 1291 relates the idea that theta was used to brand criminals as empty ciphers, and the branding rod was affixed to the crossbar spanning the circle.^[4] For this reason, use of the number theta was sometimes avoided where the connotation was felt to be unlucky—the mint marks of some Late Imperial Roman coins famously have the sum ΔΕ or ΕΔ (delta and epsilon, that is 4 and 5) substituted as a euphemism where a Θ (9) would otherwise be expected.