Apocalyptic number

Definitions

  • Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • Apocalyptic number the number 666, mentioned in Rev. xiii. 18., in which it is described as the number of the “beast of the earth”. It has been variously interpreted. Some fundamentalist Christians consider it to be the number of the Devil, and avoid or fear objects containing that number.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • Apocalyptic number the mystical number 666, spoken of in the Apocalypse. The best solution of the riddle is Neron Kesar—Hebrew form of the Latin Nero Cæsar. The vowels e and a are not expressed in the ancient Hebrew writing. Accordingly NeRON KeSaR gives NRONKSR : 50 + 200 + 6 + 50 + 100 + 60 + 200 = 666
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Etymology

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Gr.; a revelation, an uncovering—apo, from, kalypt-ein, to cover.

Usage

In literature:

The days of man, they said, are numbered; the Apocalyptic woes are at hand; Antichrist draws nigh.
"Lippincott's Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, April 1875, Vol. XV., No. 88" by Various
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In news:

Our bees are dying in apocalyptic numbers.
csmonitor.com
Judging from the rabid, shrill, apocalyptic mouth foam seeping through my email filters, some of us (most of us, the numbers say) need to be rudely slapped out of our delusion that this is America in 2012.
savannahnow.com
Judging from the rabid , shrill, apocalyptic mouth foam seeping through my email filters, some of us (most of us, the numbers say) need to be rudely slapped out of our delusion that this is America in 2012.
pressofatlanticcity.com
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