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Order and ritual are very important in the seder—so important that they are even reflected in its name: the English word seder is a transliteration of the Hebrew word sēdher, meaning “order.” The courses in the meal, as well as blessings, prayers, stories, and songs, are recorded in the Haggadah, a book that lays out the order of the Passover feast and recounts the story of Exodus. Each food consumed as part of the seder recalls an aspect of the Israelites’ 13th century BCE exodus from Egypt. For instance, matzo (unleavened bread) represents the haste with which the Israelites fled; maror (a mix of bitter herbs) recalls the bitterness of enslaved life; and a mixture of fruits and nuts called charoset (also rendered as charoses or haroset/haroses) symbolizes the clay or mortar the Israelites worked with during their Egyptian enslavement.
Examples of seder in a Sentence
Matthew Carey, Deadline, 25 June 2025
The seder is the main Passover ritual and is a holiday meal that includes the re-telling of the story of the exodus from Egypt.
—Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 11 Apr. 2025
The seder will be self-led—guests are invited to bring their own Haggadah.
—Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
In 1968, activists posing as Swiss tourists used the seder as a pretense for re-establishing a permanent Jewish presence in Hebron, three decades after the last of the city’s Jews fled following massacres.
—Deborah Danan, Sun Sentinel, 2 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Seder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seder. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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