\Ad`o*na"i\, n. [Heb. ad[=o]n[=a]i, lit., my lord.]
A Hebrew name for God, usually translated in the Old
Testament by the word ``Lord''.
Note: The later Jews used its vowel points to fill out the
      tetragrammaton {Yhvh}, or {Ihvh}, ``the incommunicable
      name,'' and in reading substituted ``Adonai''.