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Bethlehem.

A city in the West Bank, Palestine, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

name/ˈbɛθ.lə.hɛm//ˈbɛθ.li.hɛm/

  1. A city in the West Bank, Palestine, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.

  2. A number of other places around the world: A hamlet near Rottum, Groningen province, Netherlands.

  3. A number of other places around the world: A settlement just west of Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

  4. A number of other places around the world: A town in the Free State province, South Africa.

  5. A number of other places around the world: A quarter of Bümpliz-Oberbottigen, city of Bern, Switzerland.

  6. A number of other places around the world: A small village in Llangadog community, Carmarthenshire, Wales (OS grid ref SN6825).

  7. A number of other places around the world: A hamlet in Rudbaxton community, Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SM9820).

  8. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A town in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

  9. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Holmes County, Florida.

  10. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A town in Barrow County, Georgia.

  11. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A township and unincorporated community therein, in Clark County, Indiana.

  12. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Henry County, Kentucky.

  13. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Winn Parish, Louisiana.

  14. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Caroline County, Maryland.

  15. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A census-designated place in Marshall County, Mississippi.

  16. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A town and census-designated place therein, in Grafton County, New Hampshire.

  17. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A town in Albany County, New York.

  18. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A census-designated place in Alexander County, North Carolina.

  19. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A ghost town in Marion County, Ohio.

  20. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Richland County, Ohio.

  21. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A city in Northampton County and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

  22. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Wayne County, Tennessee.

  23. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Harrison County, West Virginia.

  24. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A village in Ohio County, West Virginia.

  25. A number of other places around the world: A number of places in the United States: A number of other townships in the United States, listed under Bethlehem Township

Where this word comes from

Inherited from Middle English Bethleem, from Old French Bethleem and Old English Bethleem, from Latin Bēthlehēmum, from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém), from Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (bēṯ lɛ́ḥɛm, literally “house of bread”). Doublet of bedlam and Belém.

noun/ˈbɛθ.lə.hɛm//ˈbɛθ.li.hɛm/

  1. A lunatic asylum.

    obsolete

  2. In the Ethiopic church, a small building attached to a church edifice, in which the bread for the Eucharist is made.

Where this word comes from

Inherited from Middle English Bethleem, from Old French Bethleem and Old English Bethleem, from Latin Bēthlehēmum, from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém), from Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (bēṯ lɛ́ḥɛm, literally “house of bread”). Doublet of bedlam and Belém.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.