TET

TET (Heb. ט; טֵית), the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet; its numerical value is therefore 9. The early, Proto-Canaanite form of this letter has not yet been attested, but in the tenth century b.c.e. it consisted of crossing strokes (compare with the taw) surrounded by a circle , . In the cursive scripts there was a tendency to open the circle. Thus in the Hebrew script it was drawn ; in the Samaritan ; Phoenician , : Aramaic ; Jewish ; Nabatean → → Arabic . The Greek theta preserved the closed circle. See *Alphabet, Hebrew.

[Joseph Naveh]

Tet the Vietnamese lunar New Year. In the Vietnam War, the Tet offensive was launched in January–February 1968 by the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese army. Timed to coincide with the first day of the Tet, it was a surprise attack on South Vietnamese cities, notably Saigon. Although repulsed after initial successes, the attack shook US confidence and hastened the withdrawal of its forces.

TET Teacher of Electrotherapy