Bethlehem

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Bethlehem

/ˈbɛθ.lə.hɛm/
/ˈbɛθ.li.hɛm/

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English Bethleem, from Old French Bethleem and Old English Bethleem, from Latin Bēthlehēmum, from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém), from Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (bēṯ lɛ́ḥɛm, literally “house of bread”). Doublet of bedlam and Belém.

proper noun

A city in the West Bank, Palestine, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus. Now when Ieſus was boꝛne in Bethlehem of Iudea, in the dayes of Herod the king, behold, there came Wiſe men from the Eaſt to Hierusalem,
A hamlet near Rottum, Groningen province, Netherlands.
A settlement just west of Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
A town in the Free State province, South Africa.
A quarter of Bümpliz-Oberbottigen, city of Bern, Switzerland.
A small village in Llangadog community, Carmarthenshire, Wales (OS grid ref SN6825).
A hamlet in Rudbaxton community, Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SM9820).
A town in Litchfield County, Connecticut.
An unincorporated community in Holmes County, Florida.
A town in Barrow County, Georgia.
A township and unincorporated community therein, in Clark County, Indiana.
An unincorporated community in Henry County, Kentucky.
An unincorporated community in Winn Parish, Louisiana.
An unincorporated community in Caroline County, Maryland.
A census-designated place in Marshall County, Mississippi.
A town and census-designated place therein, in Grafton County, New Hampshire.
A town in Albany County, New York.
A census-designated place in Alexander County, North Carolina.
A ghost town in Marion County, Ohio.
An unincorporated community in Richland County, Ohio.
A city in Northampton County and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
An unincorporated community in Wayne County, Tennessee.
An unincorporated community in Harrison County, West Virginia.
A village in Ohio County, West Virginia.
A number of other townships in the United States, listed under Bethlehem Township

noun Bethlehems

obsolete A lunatic asylum.
In the Ethiopic church, a small building attached to a church edifice, in which the bread for the Eucharist is made. […] to the Hebrew and Arabic word “korban” as now used in the Abyssinian Church to denote the sacramental bread specially prepared in the “Bethlehem,” or “House of Bread.”

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: belem, belen, belém, heng, meat, allentown, lahm, lehm, ephrath, bethlehem-judah, beth-lehem, betlehem, bethlehemite, bethel, bethany, bethphage

Translations

Every language

name city

Español	Belén
한국어	베들레헴 bedeullehem
日本語	ベツレヘム Betsurehemu, ワィフレエム Wifureemu
中文	伯利恆 /伯利恒 Bólìhéng
हिन्दी	बेथलहम bethalham, बैतलहम baitalham
Kiswahili	Bethlehemu
Português	Belém
Français	Bethléem
Deutsch	Betlehem
Italiano	Betlemme
Ελληνικά	Βηθλεέμ Vithleém
Română	Betleem, Viflaim
Русский	Вифлее́м Viflejém
Tiếng Việt	Belem
العربية	بَيْت لَحْم bayt laḥm
עברית	בֵּית לֶחֶם bet lékhem

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Cite this

MLA

"Bethlehem." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bethlehem. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Bethlehem. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bethlehem

Chicago

"Bethlehem." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bethlehem.

BibTeX

@misc{bethlehem_2026,
  title = {Bethlehem},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bethlehem},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}