Meanings
plural Hanukkahs
- JudaismAn eight-day Jewish festival, starting on the 25th day of Kislev, which commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek Syrians.
Rebecca and Roni Kopelman have been celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah since they got together in 2006, building the foundations of an interfaith household.
2012 December 14, Emanuella Grinberg and Christina Zdanowicz, “Celebrating Chrismukkah: Shalom stockings and Hanukkah bushes”, in CNN, archived from the original on 10 Dec 2013Synonyms: Feast of Dedication, Feast of Lights, Festival of Lights
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounAn eight-day Jewish festival, starting on the 25th day of Kislev, which commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek Syrians.
More synonyms by meaning
noun(Judaism) an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 BC
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Hebrewחנוכה / חֲנֻכָּה“dedication, consecration”
- EnglishHanukkah
Originated 1890–95. From Hebrew חנוכה / חֲנֻכָּה (khanuká, “dedication, consecration”) from חָנַךְ (khanákh, “to dedicate, to consecrate”).
More words from Hebrew
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Chanoeka, Hanukkah
- Chanoekathe Jewish festival
- Hanukkahthe Jewish festival
Ancient Greek ἐγκαίνια
- ἐγκαίνια (enkaínia)the Jewish festival
Arabic حَانُوكَا, حَنُكَّة
- حَانُوكَا (ḥānūkā)the Jewish festival
- حَنُكَّة (ḥanukka)the Jewish festival
Bengali হানুক্কা
- হানুক্কা (hanukka)the Jewish festival
Chinese Cantonese 光明節 /光明节, 燭光節 /烛光节
- 光明節 /光明节 (gwong¹ ming⁴ zit³)the Jewish festival
- 燭光節 /烛光节 (zuk⁶ gwong¹ zit³)the Jewish festival
- 修殿節 /修殿节 (sau¹ din⁶ zit³)the Jewish festival
- 獻殿節 /献殿节 (hin³ din⁶ zit³)the Jewish festival
- 哈努卡節 /哈努卡节 (haa¹ nou⁵ kaa¹ zit³)the Jewish festival
- 馬卡比節 /马卡比节 (maa⁵ kaa¹ bei² zit³)the Jewish festival
Chinese Mandarin 光明節 /光明节, 燭光節 /烛光节
- 光明節 /光明节 (Guāngmíngjié)the Jewish festival
- 燭光節 /烛光节 (Zhúguāngjié)the Jewish festival
- 再獻聖殿節 /再献圣殿节 (Zàixiàn-shèngdiànjié)the Jewish festival
- 修殿節 /修殿节 (Xiūdiànjié)the Jewish festival
- 獻殿節 /献殿节 (Xiàndiànjié)the Jewish festival
- 哈努卡節 /哈努卡节 (Hānǔkǎjié)the Jewish festival
- 馬加比節 /马加比节 (Mǎjiābǐjié)the Jewish festival
Czech Chanuka
- Chanukathe Jewish festival
Dutch Chanoeka
- Chanoekathe Jewish festival
Esperanto Ĥanuko
- Ĥanukothe Jewish festival
Estonian Hannuka
- Hannukathe Jewish festival
Finnish hanukka
- hanukkathe Jewish festival
French Hanoukka
- Hanoukkathe Jewish festival
German Chanukka, Lichterfest
- Chanukkathe Jewish festival
- Lichterfestthe Jewish festival
Greek Χανουκά
- Χανουκά (Chanouká)the Jewish festival
Hebrew חֲנֻכָּה
- חֲנֻכָּה (khanuká)the Jewish festival
Hindi हनुका
- हनुका (hanukā)the Jewish festival
Hungarian hanuka
- hanukathe Jewish festival
Indonesian Hanukah
- Hanukahthe Jewish festival
Italian Chanukah
- Chanukahthe Jewish festival
Japanese ハヌカー, ハヌカ
- ハヌカー (hanukā)the Jewish festival
- ハヌカ (hanuka)the Jewish festival
- ハニカ (hanika)the Jewish festival
Korean 하누카
- 하누카 (hanuka)the Jewish festival
Latin Encaenia
- Encaeniathe Jewish festival
Norwegian Bokmål hanukka
- hanukkathe Jewish festival
Polish Chanuka, Święto Świateł
- Chanukathe Jewish festival
- Święto Światełthe Jewish festival
- Święto Świecthe Jewish festival
Portuguese Chanucá
- Chanucáthe Jewish festival
Romanian Hanuka
- Hanukathe Jewish festival
Russian Ха́нука
- Ха́нука (Xánuka)the Jewish festival
Slovak Chanuka
- Chanukathe Jewish festival
Spanish Jánuca, Janucá
- Jánucathe Jewish festival
- Janucáthe Jewish festival
- Hanukkahthe Jewish festival
Swedish chanukka
- chanukkathe Jewish festival
Tamil ஹனுகா
- ஹனுகா (haṉukā)the Jewish festival
Turkish Hanuka
- Hanukathe Jewish festival
Ukrainian Хану́ка
- Хану́ка (Xanúka)the Jewish festival
Urdu حَنُوکاہ
- حَنُوکاہ (hanūkāh)the Jewish festival
Yiddish חנוכה
- חנוכה (khanuke)the Jewish festival
Cite this entry
Hanukkah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hanukkah
“Hanukkah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hanukkah. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hanukkah,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hanukkah.
Source: Hanukkah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.