megillah

megillah

English

Alternative forms

• megilla

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈɡɪlə/

Etymology 1

From Hebrew מגילה \\ מְגִלָּה‎ (m'gilá, “scroll”).

Noun

megillah (plural megillahs or megillot or megilloth)

1. (Judaism) any of the Five Scrolls of the Hebrew Scriptures (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther)
2. (Judaism, specifically) the Book of Esther

Etymology 2

From Yiddish מגילה‎ (megile, “megillah”), from Hebrew מגילה \\ מְגִלָּה‎ (m'gilá, “scroll”).

Noun

megillah (plural megillahs)

1. A long, overblown story or fuss; a to-do.
   • 1997, Don DeLillo, Underworld:

     You can’t name it. It’s too big or evil or outside your experience. It’s also shit because it’s garbage, it’s waste material. But I’m making a whole big megillah out of this. What I really want to get at is the ordinary thing, the ordinary life behind the thing.