menorah

Etymology

It is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew מְנוֹרָה (mĕnōrāh, “lampstand, candlestick”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from the root נור (nwr, “to give light, shine”),^[7][6][8] which also gave the Hebrew word for a lamp.^[6] Klein lists relatives meaning fire, light and candlestick in Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic, and Akkadian nūru (“light”).^[6] The Arabic word for a candlestick, a lighthouse and the tower of a mosque comes from the same base and is the source of minaret.^[2][7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The holy seven-branched lampstand of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, and a similar candelabrum with eight lights and a shamash: 1886, in a title.^[2][7][3] The 1989 edition of the OED dated it to 1888, and Dictionary.com gives 1885–90.^[9][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Hebrew Bible the mĕnōrāh is the lampstand of the Tabernacle and the Temple; the American Heritage Dictionary says its seven branches stood for the seven days of Creation.^[6][10] English took the word in the late 19th century for that lampstand and soon for any candelabrum used in Jewish worship, especially the one lit at Hanukkah, with eight branches and a ninth for the shamash.^{[2][4][11][12]} The seven-branched menorah is also an emblem of Judaism and the badge of the State of Israel.^[11][4] In 2013, when Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fell on the same day, a turkey-shaped Hanukkah lamp was sold as a menurkey.^[13]

Timeline

• 1886 – the seven-branched lampstand of the Temple, and a Hanukkah candelabrum.^[2][7][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The holy seven-branched candelabrum of the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem, now an emblem of Judaism.^{[11][3][10][2]}
2. A candelabrum with eight branches and a ninth for the shamash, lit during Hanukkah: The children lit the menorah on the first night.^{[11][3][10][2]}
3. Any candelabrum used in Jewish worship.^[3][4][12]

Related words

• minaret
• Hanukkah
• shamash

Usage notes

Some Jews hold that menorah should be used only for the seven-branched lampstand and that the Hanukkah lamp should be called a hanukkiah, but menorah remains the usual word for both.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
13. ^ Popik, Barry, The Big Apple, barrypopik.com, p. "Menurkey", 12 October 2013