staurogram

Meaning

Noun

• A ligature, ⳨, of the Greek letters τ and ρ or Coptic letters ⲧ and ⲣ, later used as a symbol of the cross in early Christianity and remaining in use as a ligature in abbreviations of the words σταυρός and σταυρόω.

Origin

• From stauro- + -gram. Coined c. 1970 as a parallel of Christogram, earlier (1870s) the τρ ligature was referred to as monogrammatic cross. German Staurogramm in the same sense possibly slightly earlier (1960s); the German word was used earlier (1840s) only in the sense of a geometric configuration in crystallography; similarly, New Latin Staurogramma before 1970 only as systematic name of a genus of Bacillariophyceae (L. Rabenhorst, 1853).