maccabiah

Pronunciations

maacabiah

(mah-KAH-bee-YAH)

Definitions

• n. International Jewish sports competition, known as the Jewish Olympics, held (mostly) every four years since 1932; smaller regional competitions held in Jewish community centers around the world.
  

• n. Color war / intra-camp competition in a Jewish summer camp.
  

Example Sentences

• "We stayed up all night making the banners for the maccabiah break-out." (Jewish summer camp)
  

• "Having grown from 390 athletes from fourteen countries to nine thousand athletes from seventy-eight countries, the Maccabiah Games (or the “Jewish Olympics,” as it has come to be known) continue to gain popularity." (source)
  

Languages of Origin

• Textual Hebrew
• Modern Hebrew

Etymology

• The name of the international Jewish athletic competition was based on the ancient Maccabees, plus the -ia suffix common in Modern Hebrew, which is influenced by Ladino / Judeo-Spanish. The use of "maccabiah" for color war at camp was adopted by American Hebraist/Zionist Jewish camps in the 1940s, including at Massad Poconos, based on the international competition.
  

Who Uses This

• Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
• Camp: Jews who attend or work at a Jewish overnight summer camp

Regions

• Australia / New Zealand
• South Africa
• Great Britain
• North America
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Dictionaries

• The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).

Alternative Spellings

maccabia, macabia, makabia, makabea, maccabiya, maccabiyah