What does "hanukkah" mean?

(Judaism) an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 BC

How do you pronounce "hanukkah"?

Pronounced //ˈhɑː.nə.kə//.

Common synonyms include: channukah, channukkah, chanukah, chanukkah, day of atonement, feast of dedication.

//ˈhɑː.nə.kə// name

name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
(Judaism) an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 BC wordnet

Proper Noun

1
An 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. Judaism
"Rebecca and Roni Kopelman have been celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah since they got together in 2006, building the foundations of an interfaith household."

"What were the two miracles that were done for the people of Israel on Hanukkah?"

Originated 1890–95. From Hebrew חנוכה / חֲנֻכָּה (khanuká, “dedication, consecration”) from חָנַךְ (khanákh, “to dedicate, to consecrate”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.