Bethlehem

See also: Bethléhem

English

Etymology

From Middle English Bethleem, Bedlem, from Old French Bethleem, from Latin Bēthlehēmum, Bēthleëm, from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém), from Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם‎ (bēṯ léḥem, “house of bread”). Doublet of bedlam.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbɛθləhɛm/, /ˈbɛθlihɛm/
Audio (RP) (file)

Proper noun

Bethlehem

A city in the West Bank, Palestine, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Matthew 2:1:
  Now when Ieſus was boꝛne in Bethlehem of Iudea, in the dayes of Herod the king, behold, there came Wiſe men from the Eaſt to Hierusalem,
A town in Free State province, South Africa.

Derived terms

East Bethlehem

Translations

City

Afrikaans: Bethlehem
Aghwan: 𐔱𐔴𐔸𐔾𐔰𐕆𐔴𐕌 (betlahem)
Albanian: Bethlehem
Amharic: ቤተልሔም (betälḥem)
Arabic: بَيْت لَحْم‎ f (bayt laḥm)
Gulf Arabic: بَيت لَحَم‎ f (bēt laḥam)
Aramaic: בַּיְתָא לַחְמָא‎ m (bayṯā laḥmā)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܒܹܝܬܠܚܸܡ‎ f (betlḳim)
Armenian: Բեթղեհեմ (Betʿłehem)
Azerbaijani: Beytləhm
Basque: Betleem
Belarusian: Віфлеем (Vifljejem)
Bengali: বেথেলহাম (bethelôham), বাইত লাহাম (bait laham)
Bislama: Betlehem
Breton: Bethlehem
Bulgarian: Витлеем m (Vitleem)
Burmese: ဗက်လင် (baklang)
Catalan: Betlem (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 伯利恆, 伯利恒 (baak³ lei⁶ hang⁴), 白冷 (baak⁶ laang⁵) (Catholic)
Hakka: 伯利恆, 伯利恒 (Pak-li-hèn)
Mandarin: 伯利恆／伯利恒 (zh) (Bólìhéng), 白冷 (Báilěng) (Catholic)
Min Nan: 伯利恆, 伯利恒 (Pek-lī-hêng), Bia̍t-lé-hèm, 白冷 (Pe̍k-léng) (Catholic)
Cornish: Bethalem m
Czech: Betlém (cs) m
Danish: Betlehem
Dutch: Bethlehem (nl)
Esperanto: Bet-Leĥem
Estonian: Petlemm
Faroese: Betlehem
Finnish: Betlehem (fi)
French: Bethléem (fr) m
Galician: Belén (gl)
Georgian: ბეით-ლაჰმი (beit-lahmi), ბეთლემი (betlemi)
German: Betlehem (de) n
Gothic: 𐌱𐌴𐌸𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌼 (bēþlaihaim)
Greek: Βηθλεέμ (el) f (Vithleém)
Ancient Greek: Βηθλεέμ f (Bēthleém)
Haitian Creole: Bètleyèm
Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם‎ f (bet lékhem)
Hindi: बेथलहम (bethalham), बैतलहम m (baitalham)
Hungarian: Betlehem (hu)
Icelandic: Betlehem
Ido: Betlehem (io)
Indonesian: Betlehem
Irish: An Bheithil f
Old Irish: Bethel, Bethelém
Italian: Betlemme f
Japanese: ベツレヘム (Betsurehemu), ワィフレエム (Wifureemu) (Orthodox Christianity)
Karachay-Balkar: Вифлеем (Vifleyem)
Kazakh: Бетлехем (Betlexem)
Khmer: បេថ្លេហិម (beethleehəm)
Korean: 베들레헴 (bedeullehem)
Krymchak: Бетлехем
Latin: Bēthlehēmum n
Latvian: Bētleme f
Lithuanian: Betliejus m
Luxembourgish: Betlehem
Macedonian: Витлеем m (Vitleem)
Malay: Baitul Laham, Baitullaham, Betlehem (esp. in Christian contexts)
Maltese: Betlem
Manchu: ᠪᡝᡨᠯᡳᠶᡝᠮ (betliyem), ᠪᡝᡨᠯᡳᠶᡝᠮ
ᡥᠣᡨᠣᠨ (betliyem hoton)
Maore Comorian: Ɓaitilham
Nogai: Бетлехем (Betlexem)
Norwegian: Betlehem (no)
Occitan: Bethelèm
Ossetian: Вифлеем (Vifleem)
Persian: بیت لحم‎ (beyt-e lahm)
Polish: Betlejem (pl) m
Portuguese: Belém (pt)
Romanian: Bethleem, Viflaim m
Russian: Вифлее́м (ru) m (Viflejém), Бейт-Лехем (ru) m (Bejt-Lexem)(modern Hebrew name)
Scottish Gaelic: Bethlehem
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Витлехем m
Roman: Betlehem (sh) m
Slovak: Betlehem
Slovene: Betlehem (sl)
Spanish: Belén (es) m
Swahili: Bethlehemu
Swedish: Betlehem (sv)
Tagalog: Belen
Tamil: பெத்லகேம் (petlakēm)
Thai: เบธเลเฮม (betlehem)
Turkish: Beytüllahim, Betlehem
Ukrainian: Віфлеєм (Viflejem)
Urdu: بَیْت اَلْلَحَم‎ m (bait al-lahm), بیت لحم‎ m (bait lahm)
Uyghur: بېتلېخېم‎ (bëtlëxëm)
Vietnamese: Belem (biblical)
Welsh: Bethlehem
West Frisian: Betlehem
Yiddish: בית לחם‎ (beys lekhem)

Noun

Bethlehem (plural Bethlehems)

(obsolete) A lunatic asylum.
(architecture) In the Ethiopic church, a small building attached to a church edifice, in which the bread for the Eucharist is made.
- 1869, John Baron, Anglosaxon witness on four alleged requisites for holy communion
  […] to the Hebrew and Arabic word “korban” as now used in the Abyssinian Church to denote the sacramental bread specially prepared in the “Bethlehem,” or “House of Bread.”
- 1882, William Audsley, ‎George Ashdown Audsley, Popular Dictionary of Architecture and the Allied Arts (page 200)
  A small building, attached to Ethiopic churches, usually at the eastern end of the sacrarium, in which the deacon prepares and bakes the bread for use in the eucharist. This building is called the Bethlehem, or “house of bread.”
- 2006, Geoffrey Wainwright, ‎Robert Earl Cushman, ‎Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, The Oxford History of Christian Worship (page 143)
  The deacon rings a bell when bread is brought from the bethlehem to the maqdas and at other liturgical times
- 2014, Bryan D. Spinks, Do this in Remembrance of Me (page 174)
  The priests and deacons assigned to the service wash their feet and hands, usually near the 'Bethlehem'.

Derived terms

bedlam
Bethlem

Dutch

Alternative forms

Betlehem (superseded)

Etymology

From Latin Bēthlehēmum, Bēthleëm, from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém), from Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם‎ (bet léchem, “house of bread”).

The hamlet is first attested as Bethlehem in 1502 and is named after a former monastery, which was named in turn after the city in Palestine.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbɛt.leːˌɦɛm/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: Beth‧le‧hem

Proper noun

Bethlehem n

Bethlehem (a city in the West Bank, Palestine).
A hamlet in Het Hogeland, Groningen, Netherlands.

German

Alternative forms

Betlehem

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbeːt.ləˌhɛm/, /-ˌheːm/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: Beth‧le‧hem

Proper noun

Bethlehem n (proper noun, genitive Bethlehems or (optionally with an article) Bethlehem)

Bethlehem (a city in Palestine)

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈbeːtʰ.le.hem/, [ˈbeːt̪ʰɫ̪e(ɦ)ɛ̃ˑ]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbet.le.em/, [ˈbɛt̪leːm]

Proper noun

Bēthlehem n (indeclinable)

Alternative form of Bēthlehēmum

References

“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

Middle English

Proper noun

Bethlehem

Alternative form of Bethleem