menorah

English

WOTD – 8 December 2012, 8 December 2014

A Hanukkah menorah.

Etymology

From Hebrew מְנוֹרָה‎ (m'norá). From the same Proto-Semitic root *nūr- (“fire”) as minaret.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪˈnɔːɹə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːɹə

Noun

menorah (plural menoroth or menorot or menorahs)

1. (Judaism) A holy candelabrum with seven branches used in the Temple of Jerusalem.
   • 1985, Anthony Burgess, The Kingdom of the Wicked:

     ‘Heathen muck,’ Liberalis said, as the pillaging began. The veil of the Temple was rent. The great menorah was taken away.

2. (Judaism) A candelabrum (hanukkiah) with nine branches used in Jewish worship on Hanukkah.
   • 1992, Merrill Joan Gerber, The Kingdom of Brooklyn‎^[1], Syracuse University Press, published 2000, →ISBN, page 76-77:

     My father brings home a big brass antique menorah, shaped like an archway, heavy, on a pedestal, on a round base.

   • 1996, Ann Kimmage, An Un-American Childhood‎^[2], University of Georgia Press, published 1996, →ISBN, page 49-50:

     In America every December my mother had decorated our home with metal Stars of David she hung on strings in the doorways and lit the menorah as we gathered at the table.

   • 2000, Noam Zion & Barbara Spectre, A Different Light: The Hanukkah Book of Celebration‎^[3], Devora Publishing, →ISBN, page 237:

     However, traditional Sefardi families follow the halacha that each household uses only one menorah lit by the head of the household, to represent everyone in unison.

Synonyms

• (candelabrum with nine branches): hanukkiah

Translations

seven-branch candelabrum

• Arabic: مَنَارَة‎ (ar) (manāra), مِنُورَة‎ (minūra), الشَّمْعَدَان السَّبَاعِيّ‎ (aš-šamʿadān as-sabāʿiyy), مِينُورَاه‎ (mīnūrāh)
• Catalan: menorà f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 猶太教燈臺, 犹太教灯台 (Yóutàijiào dēngtái)

• Dutch: menora (nl)
• Esperanto: menoro, menorao
• Finnish: menora (fi)
• German: Menora (de)
• Greek: επτάφωτος λυχνία f (eptáfotos lychnía)
• Hebrew: מְנוֹרָה‎ (he) f (m'norá)
• Hungarian: menóra (hu)
• Indonesian: menorah
• Italian: menorah (it)
• Japanese: メノーラー (menōrā)
• Korean: 메노라 (menora)
• Ladino: menora f
• Lithuanian: menora
• Macedonian: мено́ра f (menóra)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: menora m

  Nynorsk: menora m

• Polish: menora (pl) f
• Portuguese: menorá
• Russian: мено́ра (ru) f (menóra)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: менора f

  Roman: menora (sh) f

• Sinhalese: මෙනොරා (menorā)
• Spanish: menora (es), menorá (es)
• Swedish: menora (sv)
• Tamil: மெனொரா (meṉorā)
• Telugu: మెనొరా (menorā)
• Turkish: menora
• Ugaritic: 𐎎𐎐𐎗𐎚 (mnrt)
• Yiddish: מנורה‎ f (menoyre)

nine-branch candelabrum — see hanukkiah

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Indonesian

Etymology

From Hebrew מְנוֹרָה‎ (m'norá). Doublet of menara and minaret.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meˈnorah/
• Hyphenation: mé‧no‧rah

Noun

mênara (first-person possessive menorahku, second-person possessive menorahmu, third-person possessive menorahnya)

1. menorah.

Further reading

• “menorah” in Online Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language [Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia Daring], Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.