Bethlehem

From Middle English Bethleem, Bedlem, from Old French Bethleem, from Latin Bēthlehēmum, Bēthleëm, from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém), from Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם‎ (bet léchem). Doublet of bedlam.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛθləhɛm/, /ˈbɛθlihɛm/

Bethlehem

1. A city in the West Bank, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981:

   Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem

Bethlehem (plural Bethlehems)

1. (obsolete) A lunatic asylum.
2. (architecture) In the Ethiopic church, a small building attached to a church edifice, in which the bread for the Eucharist is made.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Audsley to this entry?)

• bedlam
• Bethlem

• Betlehem (superseded)

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛt.leːˌɦɛm/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Beth‧le‧hem

Bethlehem n

1. Bethlehem

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈbeːtʰ.le.hem/, [ˈbeːtʰ.ɫɛ.hẽ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbet.le.em/

Bēthlehem n (indeclinable)

1. Alternative form of Bēthlehēmum

• Bēthlĕhem in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Bethlehem in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Bethlehem

1. Alternative form of Bethleem