megillah

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Pronunciations

megillah (meh-GIL-ah) listen
megillah (meh-gee-LAH) listen

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Definitions

Example Sentences

  • "It's Purim. How can you miss the megillah reading?"

  • "Their wedding had a sushi bar, carving stations, tuxedoed waiters, live music, champagne--the whole megillah!"

  • “Don’t give me a megillah." (NJY)

  • "We have that beautiful Megila that belonged to your grandfather. You can read from that one on Purim." (Glinert)

  • "OK, OK, I just asked why you're late. I didn't want to hear a whole megile!" (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH מגילה megilá > Y מגילה megíle

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements

      Regions

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

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
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      Alternative Spellings

      megille

Notes

  • The five megillot are The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. The phrase "the whole megillah" (see example) is a calque of די גאַנצע מגילה di gantse megile, from Yiddish.

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