“In the beginning was the Word.” (489). Dan Brown loves italics but he doesn’t provide the quotation marks that would identify this as a quote from the Gospel of John 1:1 that continues: “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Lost Symbol is the Lost Word and that word is a symbol. Brown and Langdon have a reverence and respect for words. All words can potentially take on special significance in this novel that revolves in circular fashion around The Word. The result is a circumpunct, a circle around a dot and symbol of the Deity. One of the author’s favorite pastimes is the discovery of the etymology, or the original meaning, of a word. For the ancients this root, 
(etumon), “true sense,” explains the belief that if one could find the origin of a word, what it meant at first utterance, then one would be able to identify the real true meaning, even if it had been “lost” with time.
Langdon provides a running etymological commentary to several words in the book:
Apotheosis: “ancient Greek: apo – ‘to become,’ theos – ‘god.’” … Apotheosis means ‘to become God’?” (84).
Cravat: “derived from a ruthless band of ‘Croat’ mercenaries who donned knotted neckerchiefs before they stormed into battle.” (8).
Sacrifice: “Sacra—sacred. Face—make.” “Make yourself sacred.” (287).
Talisman: “Greek telesma, meaning ‘complete.’” (167).
Word games and puzzles are frequently used to lead or mislead the unsuspecting. Langdon will eventually have to rearrange the 64 symbols found on the Masonic Pyramid. The third line of the 64-block word square [see page 429 of novel] reads: L Au S (pyramid) D E (ouroboros)—the snake biting its tail which also resembles the capital letter O. The line can be interpreted in a number of ways. Literally, or more precisely graphically, we are presented with the stonemason’s square, the scientific abbreviation for gold, the Greek letter sigma used in math for the “sum,” the Greek letter delta, used in math for “change,” the alchemical symbol for mercury, and the ouroboros. But there is another literal level, the symbols as letters that we as readers have almost forgotten to see. Because right before our eyes is the phrase LAUS DEO, “Praise to God.” The goal of the entire journey is the revelation related to The Lost Word.
The author through his characters attempts to forewarn the reader: “Language can be very adept at hiding the truth” (196). The novel contains numerous instances that could haunt writers and readers. The enigmatic IIIX88S is actually SBBXIII, indicating a subbasement room 13 in the belly of the Capitol building. Misspellings of the San Greal or the Holy Grail, we are told in The Da Vinci Code, lead to the understanding of Sang Real as meaning Holy blood. Mistranslations from the Book of Exodus by St. Jerome have given us a Moses with “horns.” Letters can be substituted for numbers. Gematria in the Kabbalah assigned numerical values to letters in the Bible seeking still unrevealed messages. Perhaps it is pure coincidence that The Solomon Key, now The Lost Symbol, both contain thirteen letters?
Ever the teacher, Langdon explains some words to his Harvard students and us: “the word occult, despite conjuring images of devil worship, actually means ‘hidden’ or ‘obscured’” (27). We are reminded to look carefully at words to see how “atonement” can become “at-one-ment” and “revelations” can be “revealed.” Beware of puns! Langdon comments that Noetic science is “all Greek to me” and it is later identified as coming from the Greek “nous,” “inner knowing,” a kind of intuitive consciousness. Readers need to know Latin to translate “Tempus fugit.” Brown also hopes you will use a good dictionary to identify his “coelacanth” and “Architeuthis squid.”
This is an ongoing quest. Even the dustcover conceals letters and numbers that ultimately yield a New York City telephone number! I am convinced that more will come out as you search for your own associations and connections. Not only was the word in the beginning, but The Lost Symbol is the beginning of word games that are likely to see ever more secrets unraveled by true believers in search of that Holy Grail of Enlightenment.
Etymological dictionary online
www.etymonline.com