Adjacent Words

Hanukkah definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (Judaism) an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 BC [syn: Hanukkah, Hanukah, Hannukah, Chanukah, Chanukkah, Channukah, Channukkah, Festival of Lights, Feast of Lights, Feast of Dedication, Feast of the Dedication]

Merriam Webster's

also Chanukah or Hanukah noun Etymology: Hebrew ??nukk?h dedication Date: 1864 an 8-day Jewish holiday beginning on the 25th of Kislev and commemorating the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem after its defilement by Antiochus of Syria

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (also Chanukkah) the Jewish festival of lights, commemorating the purification of the Temple in 165 BC. Etymology: Heb. hanukkah consecration

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hanukka Ha"nuk*ka, or Hanukkah Ha"nuk*kah, n. [Heb. khanukk[=a]h.] The Jewish Feast of the Dedication, instituted by Judas Maccab[ae]us, his brothers, and the whole congregation of Israel, in 165 b. c., to commemorate the dedication of the new altar set up at the purification of the temple of Jerusalem to replace the altar which had been polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes (--1 Maccabees i. 58, iv. 59). The feast, which is mentioned in John x. 22, is held for eight days (beginning with the 25th day of Kislev, corresponding to December), and is celebrated everywhere, chiefly as a festival of lights, by the Jews.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

also Hanukah Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that celebrates the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 165 B.C. It begins in November or December and lasts for eight days. = Chanukah