Bethlehemum

Latin

Alternative forms

• Bēthleëm, Bēthlēēm, Bēthlehem, Bēthlem

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém), from Biblical Hebrew בּית לחם (Bet Léchem). The Ancient Greek etymon and all the other forms of this word are indeclinable; Bēthlehēmum was adapted to decline as a neuter proper noun of the second declension.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /beːtʰ.leˈheː.mum/, [beːt̪ʰɫ̪eˈ(ɦ)eːmʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /bet.leˈe.mum/, [bet̪leˈɛːmum]

Proper noun

Bēthlehēmum n sg (genitive Bēthlehēmī); second declension

1. Bethlehem (a town of the tribe of Judah, the birthplace of David and of Christ, now Bēt Laḥm)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter), with locative, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Bēthlehēmum
Genitive	Bēthlehēmī
Dative	Bēthlehēmō
Accusative	Bēthlehēmum
Ablative	Bēthlehēmō
Vocative	Bēthlehēmum
Locative	Bēthlehēmī

Synonyms

• (Bethlehem): Ephrāta

Derived terms

• Bēthlaeus
• Bēthleëmicus
• Bēthlehemītēs
• Bēthlemiticus

Descendants

• English: bedlam, Bethlehem

References

• “Bēthlĕhēmum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Further reading

• Bethleem on the Latin Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^la