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Challah Comes From Yiddish
When English speakers first borrowed challah from Yiddish, they couldn't quite settle on a single spelling, so the word showed up in several forms; challah and hallah, and the plural forms challot, challoth, challahs, hallot, halloth, and hallahs were all common enough to merit inclusion in Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged when it was released in 1961. Today, challah and the anglicized plural challahs are the variants that are usually encountered by English speakers. The initial ch of challah is frequently pronounced as a velar or uvular fricative, like the ch in the German Buch or the Scottish English loch.
Examples of challah in a Sentence
Symiah Dorsey, Southern Living, 30 Aug. 2025
At Mama Mezze in New York City, a crispy, tender chicken schnitzel topped with bright slaw and smoked harissa aioli, tucked into a soft challah bun.
—Aly Walansky, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
It is made with challah bread and topped with banana, caramel and whipped mascarpone ($16).
—Jonathan Shikes, Denver Post, 6 Aug. 2025
Beautiful photos online have encouraged people who didn't grow up with the tradition to try baking their own challah.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for challah
Cite this Entry
“Challah.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/challah. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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