challah

Pronunciations

challah

(CHAH-luh)

Definitions

• n. "The braided egg bread that traditionally is eaten on almost every Jewish holiday and [the Sabbath]" (JPS).
  

Example Sentences

• "We need two challahs for Friday night."
  

Languages of Origin

• Textual Hebrew
• Yiddish

Etymology

• Heb חלה khalá, Yiddish/Ashkenazi Hebrew חלה khále
  

Who Uses This

• Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
• Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)

Regions

• North America

Dictionaries

• The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
• The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
• Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

Alternative Spellings

khale, challa, chala, hallah