matzo

matzo

English

Handmade shmura matza

Alternative forms

• matsah, matza, matzah, matzoh

Etymology

From Hebrew מַצָּה‎ (matsá). The spelling 'matzo' is a back-formation of matzos, which is borrowed from מצות.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmætsə/, /ˈmætsəʊ/, /ˌmɑːˈtsɑː/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːtsə/, /ˈmɑːtsoʊ/, /ˌmɑːˈtsɑː/

Noun

matzo (countable and uncountable, plural matzos or matzot or matzoth)

1. (uncountable) Thin, unleavened bread in Jewish cuisine.

   Matzo is eaten by Jews on Passover.

2. (countable) A piece of the above bread.
   • 2014 August 20, “Why Jews are worried [print version: International New York Times, 22 August 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times‎:

     [W]hen a Hamas spokesman recently stood by his statement that Jews used the blood of non-Jewish children for their matzos – one of the oldest anti-Semitic canards around – European elites were largely silent.

Derived terms

• egg matzo
• matzo ball

Translations

thin, unleavened bread

Belarusian: маца́ f (macá) Bulgarian: маца́ (bg) f (macá) Catalan: matsà f Chinese: Mandarin: 無酵餅／无酵饼 (wújiàobǐng) Dutch: matze m or f, matse (nl) m or f Esperanto: maco Finnish: matsa French: matza (fr) f German: Matze (de) f, Mazze (de) f (technical), Matzen (de) m, Mazzen (de) m (technical) Hebrew: מַצָּה‎ (he) f (matsá) Japanese: マッツァー (mattsā) Ladino: Hebrew: מצה‎ f (masa or matsa) Latin: masa f, matsa f Polish: maca (pl) f Portuguese: matzá m or f Russian: маца́ (ru) f (macá), мацца́ f (maccá) Spanish: Matzá f Turkish: matsa Ukrainian: маца́ f (macá) Yiddish: מצה‎ f (matse)

Anagrams

• motza