omer

See also: homer, Omer, and Ömer

English

Alternative forms

• (small unit of volume): gomer (archaic)
• (sheaf of barley): Omer

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Hebrew עומר / עֹמֶר ('ómer, “sheaf”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈəʊmə/
• Rhymes: -əʊmə(r)

Noun

omer (plural omers)

1. (historical units of measure) A former small Hebrew unit of dry volume equal to about 2.3 L or 2.1 quarts.
   • 1644, John Milton, Aeropagitica:

     ...that Omer which was every mans daily portion of Manna, is computed to have bin more then might have well suffic'd the heartiest feeder thrice as many meals.

   • 1769, Bible (KJV), Exodus XVI:

     And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

2. A vessel of one omer.
3. (Judaism) The sheaf of barley offered on the second day of Passover.

Usage notes

In English, sometimes confounded with the much larger homer.

Synonyms

• (unit of volume): issaron

Meronyms

• (unit of volume): ephah, epha (10 omers); lethek, lethech (50 omers); homer, chomer, cor, kor (100 omers)

References

• "omer, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• "H6016: `omer" in James Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
• "Weights and Measures" at Oxford Biblical Studies Online

Anagrams

• -more, Mero, More, Orem, Orme, Rome, erom, mero, mero-, moer, more