Hanukkah

[ hah-nuh-kuh; khah‐Ashkenazic Hebrew khah-nuh-kuh; Sephardic Hebrew khah-noo-kah ]

noun

1. a Jewish festival lasting eight days, celebrated from the 25th day of the month of Kislev to the 2nd of Tevet in commemoration of the rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees following their victory over the Syrians under Antiochus IV, characterized chiefly by the lighting of the menorah on each night of the festival.

Hanukkah

/ ˈhɑːnəkə; xanuˈka; -nʊˌkɑː /

noun

1. the eight-day Jewish festival of lights beginning on the 25th of Kislev and commemorating the rededication of the temple by Judas Maccabaeus in 165 bc Also calledFeast of DedicationFeast of Lights

Hanukkah

1. A festival in Judaism that occurs each December. Hanukkah commemorates the victory of the Jews (see also Jews ) in the second century b.c. over the Syrians, who had occupied their country, and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem (see also Jerusalem ) ( hanukkah is Hebrew for “dedication”). Observers of Hanukkah light one candle in a candleholder called a menorah each night for eight nights in memory of a legend that, when the Temple was rededicated, its lamps burned, without enough oil, miraculously for a week.

Notes

Hanukkah was formerly one of the less important Jewish festivals, but today it is celebrated by Jews in many parts of the world — especially the United States, where it overlaps with the celebration of Christmas .

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hanukkah¹

First recorded in 1890–95, Hanukkah is from the Hebrew word ḥănukkāh literally, “a dedicating”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hanukkah¹

from Hebrew, literally: a dedication