# Hanukkah

Pronunciation: US say "HAH-nuh-kuh" /ˈhɑː.nə.kə/; UK say "HA-nuh-kuh" /ˈhæ.nə.kə/

## Proper noun

1. An eight-day Jewish festival, beginning on the 25th of Kislev, that commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem following the Maccabees' victory over the Greek Syrians.
   - Simple: An eight-day Jewish festival that remembers the day the temple in Jerusalem was made holy again after a great victory.
   - _Families gather to exchange gifts and light the menorah throughout Hanukkah._
   - _This year Hanukkah begins at sundown on the twenty-fifth of Kislev._

## Origin

First recorded around 1890–95, it comes from the Hebrew word חנוכה (khanuká), meaning 'dedication' or 'consecration,' which derives from חָנַךְ (khanákh), 'to dedicate, to consecrate.'

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hanukkah (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).