bar mitzvah

1 of 2

noun

bar mitz·​vah bär-ˈmits-və 

often capitalized B&M

1

: a Jewish boy who reaches his 13th birthday and attains the age of religious duty and responsibility

2

: the initiatory ceremony recognizing a boy as a bar mitzvah

bar mitzvah

2 of 2

verb

bar mitzvahed; bar mitzvahing

transitive verb

: to administer the ceremony of bar mitzvah to

Examples of bar mitzvah in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Sal’s bar mitzvah was in 1990 and would have had a theme of a film from that year, so maybe Home Alone? —Beatrice Verhoeven, HollywoodReporter, 5 June 2025

And in Boca Raton, a former IBM research facility turned 1.7-million-square-foot Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRIC) has seen its sprawling conference and event space become host site for weddings, bar mitzvahs and charity events. —Jeffrey Steele, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025

However, many Jewish women now in their 80s and 90s grew up in a time where only bar mitzvahs were commonly offered. —Jessica Tzikas, Sun Sentinel, 12 June 2025

Then Stone’s eye caught something else — not inside the safe, but on the shelf beside it: a red prayer book from his father’s bar mitzvah in 1978. —Corina Knoll, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Hebrew bar miṣwāh, literally, son of the (divine) law

First Known Use

Noun

1816, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1922, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

bar mitzvah

1 of 2 noun

bar mitz·​vah bär-ˈmits-və 

often capitalized B&M

1

: a Jewish boy who on his 13th birthday reaches the age of religious duty and responsibility

2

: the ceremony recognizing a boy as a bar mitzvah

bar mitzvah

2 of 2 verb

bar mitzvahed; bar mitzvahing

: to administer the ceremony of bar mitzvah to

Etymology

Noun

from Hebrew bar miṣwāh, literally, "son of the (divine) law"