Pronunciations

Definitions

• n. Food forbidden for consumption on Passover that is made from the five major grains (wheat, barley, rye, oats, and spelt) that have come into contact with water and been allowed to rise for more than 18 minutes.

Example Sentences

Languages of Origin

• Textual Hebrew

Etymology

• חמץ

Who Uses This

• Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

Regions

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

Dictionaries

• The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
• The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).

Alternative Spellings

chometz, hametz, chumetz, chumets, khomets, leaven, chamaytz, chameytz, khamaytz, khameytz