Definition of challah
challoth
orchallot
play \ˈḵä-ˌlōt, -ˌlōth, -ˌlōs, ˈhä-\ orchallahs
alsochallas
play \ˈḵä-ləz, ˈhä-\ orhalloth
orhallot
\ˈḵä-ˌlōt, -ˌlōth, -ˌlōs, ˈhä-\ orhallahs
\ˈḵä-ləz, ˈhä-\: egg-rich yeast-leavened bread that is usually braided or twisted before baking and is traditionally eaten by Jews on the Sabbath and holidays
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Recent Examples of challah from the Web
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Less than a 100 meters away, Bretzel Bakery, a holdover from Portobello’s Jewish heyday, has stood in the same corner building since the late 19th century and still bakes its challah from the original recipe.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'challah'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
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, challa, hallah, and the plural forms challoth, challot, halloth, and hallot 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 fricative, like the ch in the German Buch or the Scottish English loch.
Origin and Etymology of challah
Yiddish khale, from Hebrew ḥallāh
First Known Use: 1907
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