menorah

plural menoroth · plural menorot · plural menorahs · alternative menora

1. A holy candelabrum with seven branches used in the Temple of Jerusalem.

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

   1985, Anthony Burgess, The Kingdom of the Wicked

2. A candelabrum with nine branches, used in Jewish worship on Hanukkah.

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

   1992, Merrill Joan Gerber, The Kingdom of Brooklyn, Syracuse University Press, published 2000, →ISBN, pages 76–77

   3 more examples

   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.

   1996, Ann Kimmage, An Un-American Childhood, University of Georgia Press, published 1996, →ISBN, pages 49–50

   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.

   2000, Noam Zion, Barbara Spectre, A Different Light: The Hanukkah Book of Celebration, Devora Publishing, →ISBN, page 237

   A far-right Polish MP has extinguished candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland’s parliament, disrupting proceedings before a planned vote of confidence in the new government.

   2023 December 12, Shaun Walker, “Far-right Polish MP uses fire extinguisher to put out Hanukah candles”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 15 Jun 2025

   Synonyms: hanukkiah