kippah

noun

kip·​pah ˈkē-pə How to pronounce kippah (audio)
variants or kippa
plural kippahs or kippas or kippot ˌkē-ˈpōt How to pronounce kippah (audio)
: yarmulke
Goldberg attends a Conservative synagogue and one of her three children wears a kippah.Molly Boigon

Examples of kippah in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The assailant then physically assaulted the father, knocking him to the ground and tossing his kippah away, a traditional skullcap worn by observant Jewish men. Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 13 Aug. 2025 Behind the counter, a man wearing a velvet kippah said business was slower than usual around 9 p.m. Thursday. Deborah Danan, Sun Sentinel, 22 July 2025 Advised by Moustafa to wear ball caps over their kippahs — traditional Jewish head coverings — for security reasons, Lopatin covered his with a Detroit Pistons basketball cap. Jane Arraf, NPR, 27 Feb. 2025 The players play with kippahs on the crown of their head. San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2025 When one of the KKK members removed his hood to reveal a kippah on his head, Rubin launched at him starting a wild brawl where even audience members got involved. Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2025 Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, a Mauritanian national, has been hit with hate crime and terrorism charges for the Oct. 26 attack in which he is accused of shooting a 39-year-old Jewish man who was wearing a kippah while walking to his synagogue in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood. Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 26 Nov. 2024 Chicago police said Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, is accused of shooting an unidentified 39-year-old man who was wearing a kippah, the Jewish skullcap, on Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, in the city's Rogers Park district. Patrick Smith, NBC News, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Mishnaic Hebrew kippāh "arch, dome, yarmulke"

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of kippah was in 1960

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Kippah.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kippah. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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