hallelujah

hallelujah

English

Alternative forms

• halleluia, halleluiah, halleluja, alleluia

Etymology

From Hebrew הַלְלוּיָהּ‎ (hal'luyáh, “Praise Yah”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌhælɪˈl(j)uːjə/

• Audio (US)

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Interjection

hallelujah

1. An exclamation used in songs of praise or thanksgiving to God.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Revelation 19:1, column 2:

     AND after theſe things I heard a great voyce of much people in heauen, ſaying, Alleluia: ſaluation, and glorie, and honour, and power vnto the Lord our God:

2. (by extension) A general expression of gratitude or adoration.

   Hallelujah! It’s finally the weekend!

Translations

exclamation to praise God

Aghwan: 𐔰𐔾𐔶𐔾𐕒𐕡𐔺𐔰 (alēluya) Amharic: ሃሌሉያ (haleluya) Arabic: هَلِّلُويَا‎ (hallilūyā) (Christian), هَلُولِيَا‎ (halūliyā), ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰه‎ (l-ḥamdu lillāh) (general) Aramaic: Syriac: ܗܲܠܹܠܘܼܝܵܐ‎ (hallēlūyā) Armenian: ալելուիա (hy) (aleluia) Belarusian: алілу́я (alilúja) Bulgarian: алелу́я (alelúja), алилу́я (bg) (alilúja) Catalan: al·leluia (ca) Chinese: Cantonese: 哈利路亞, 哈利路亚 (haa1 lei1 lu1 jaa4, haa1 li1 lu1 jaa4) Hakka: 哈利路亞, 哈利路亚 (hâ-li-lu-yá) Mandarin: 哈利路亞／哈利路亚 (zh) (hālìlùyà), 阿利路亞／阿利路亚 (ālìlùyà), 阿肋路亞／阿肋路亚 (ālèlùyà) (Catholic) Min Nan: a-lī-lū-iâ, ha-lé-lú-iah Czech: aleluja, halejuja Danish: halleluja Dutch: hallelujah, alleluja (nl), halleluja (nl) Esperanto: haleluja (eo) Estonian: halleluuja (et) Finnish: halleluja (fi) French: alléluia (fr) Georgian: ალილუია (aliluia) German: halleluja (de) Greek: αλληλούια (el) (alliloúia) Ancient: ἀλληλούϊα (allēloúïa) Hebrew: הַלְּלוּיָהּ‎ (he) (hallelúyah) Hindi: हलिलुय (haliluy) Hungarian: alleluja Icelandic: hallelúja Indonesian: haleluya (id) Interlingua: alleluia Irish: aililiú Italian: alleluia (it) Japanese: ハレルヤ (hareruya) Korean: 할렐루야 (hallelluya) Latin: allelūia Lingala: aleluya Lithuanian: aleliùja Lombard: alleluia Macedonian: алелу̀ја (alelùja) Malay: hallelujah, halleluyah, alleluia Malayalam: ഹല്ലേലൂയ (hallēlūya) Maori: hareruia Nias: haleluya Norwegian: halleluja Nynorsk: halleluja Persian: هلویا‎ (haleluyâ) Polish: alleluja (pl), hosanna (pl) Portuguese: aleluia (pt) Romanian: aliluia (ro) (used by the Orthodox Church), aleluia (ro) (used by Catholics and Protestants) Russian: аллилу́йя (ru) (allilújja), сла́ва бо́гу (ru) (sláva bógu), ура́ (ru) (urá) Sardinian: alleluia, allelujah, halleluyah Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: алелуја Roman: aleluja (sh) Slovak: aleluja (sk), halejuja Slovene: aleluja Spanish: aleluya (es) f Swedish: halleluja (sv) Tagalog: aleluya Telugu: హల్లెలూయా (hallelūyā) Thai: อัลเลลูยา (an-lee-luu-yaa), อาเลลูยา (aa-lee-luu-yaa), ฮาเลลูยา (haa-lee-luu-yaa) Turkish: haleluya, alleluya, aleluya Ukrainian: алілу́я (alilúja), алилу́я (uk) (alylúja) Urdu: ہللی‎ (haliluy) Vietnamese: hallelujah (vi) Yami: haliloya Yoruba: alelúyà

general exclamation of gratitude

Arabic: ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰه‎ (l-ḥamdu lillāh) Catalan: al·leluia (ca) Danish: gudskelov Esperanto: haleluja (eo) Finnish: halleluja (fi) German: Gott sei Dank (de) Greek: αλληλούια (el) (alliloúia) Ancient Greek: ἀλληλούϊα (allēloúïa) Malagasy: aleloia (mg) Portuguese: aleluia (pt) Russian: сла́ва бо́гу (ru) (sláva bógu) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: алелуја Roman: aleluja (sh) Spanish: aleluya (es) f Turkish: Allah'a çok şükür

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: (please verify) alléluia (fr) Hebrew: (please verify) הַלְּלוּיָהּ‎ (he) (hallelúyah) Interlingua: (please verify) alleluia Slovak: (please verify) aleluja (sk) Spanish: (please verify) aleluya (es) f

Noun

Examples (song)
Hallelujah Chorus in Handel's Messiah Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

hallelujah (plural hallelujahs)

1. A shout of “Hallelujah”.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 633–634:

     So ſung they, and the Empyrean rung, / With Halleluiahs: Thus was Sabbath kept.

2. (music) A song of praise to God; a musical composition based on the word "Hallelujah".
3. (in the plural) General praise.
   • 1855, Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, New York: Miller, Orton and Mulligan, page 441:

     Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation’s jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs?

Translations

shout of Hallelujah

Finnish: halleluja (fi) German: Halleluja (de) n Hungarian: alleluja Icelandic: hallelúja n Irish: aililiú m Plautdietsch: Haleluja m Russian: аллилу́йя (ru) f (allilújja) Spanish: aleluya (es) m Yoruba: alelúyà

song

Polish: alleluja (pl) n

general praise

Finnish: ylistys (fi) Hungarian: alleluja Russian: аллилу́йя (ru) f (allilújja) Spanish: felicitación (es) f, congratulación (es) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: (please verify) alléluia (fr) Interlingua: (please verify) alleluia Slovak: (please verify) aleluja (sk)

Verb

hallelujah (third-person singular simple present hallelujahs, present participle hallelujahing, simple past and past participle hallelujahed)

1. (intransitive) To cry "hallelujah" in praise.
   • 1971, Jack Kerouac, chapter 1, in Pic:

     My aunt Gastonia […] she'd seen the Lord more times than they could ever count, and hallelujahed and hallelujahed, said, “While's all this the Gospel word and true, […]

Translations

to cry "Hallelujah"

Hungarian: allelujázik Indonesian: berhaleluya Yoruba: ké alelúyà