Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HA-LE-LU'IAH, n. [Heb. הללו יה, praise ye Jah or Jehovah, from הלל, to praise, that is, to throw, or raise the voice, to utter a loud sound. Ar. هَلَّ halla or ealla, to appear; to begin to shine, as the new moon; to exclaim; to exult; to sing; to rejoice; to praise or worship God. Gr. ελελευ, a shout in battle. It coincides in elements with howl, L. ululo.]

Praise ye Jehovah; give praise to God; a word used in songs of praise, or a term of rejoicing in solemn ascriptions of thanksgiving to God. It is used is a noun, or as an exclamation. [This word is improperly written with j, in conformity with the German and other continental languages, in which j has the sound of y. But to pronounce the word with the English sound of j destroys its beauty. The like mistake of the sound of j Jehovah, Jordan, Joseph, has perverted the true pronunciation, which was Yehovah, Yordan, Yoseph. This perversion must now be submitted to, but in Halleluiah it ought not to be tolerated.]