mikveh

English

Alternative forms

• mikvah (very common, particularly in UK)
• mikva, mikve, mikweh, miqveh, miqweh (uncommon)

Etymology

From Hebrew מִקְוֶה (mikvé, “collection [of water]”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪkfə/, /ˈmɪkvə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪkvə/

Noun

mikveh (plural mikvehs or mikveot or mikvos or mikvot or mikvoth)

1. (Judaism) A ritual bath in which various Jewish purifications are performed.
   • 2006, Howard Jacobson, Kalooki Nights, Vintage, published 2007, page 197:

     On the night before her wedding Channa Washinsky would certainly have immersed herself in the ritually cleansing waters of the mikveh.

   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 365:

     Adjacent were the remains of a mikvah bath for the ritual purification of women, and a kosher abattoir for the ritual slaughter of beasts [...].

Translations

ritual bath in which various Jewish purifications are performed

• Czech: mikve f
• German: Mikwe (de) f
• Hebrew: מִקְוֶה (he) m (mikvé)
• Polish: mykwa (pl) f
• Yiddish: מקווה m (mikve)

Further reading

• mikveh on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “mikveh”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.