name
Bethlehem
BEHTH-luh-hehm
name
1
A city in the West Bank traditionally regarded as the birthplace of Jesus.
"Pilgrims travel to Bethlehem every Christmas to visit the Church of the Nativity."
noun
1
An old, informal word for a lunatic asylum.
"The archaic use of "bethlehem" for an asylum survives today in the word "bedlam.""
How to Use Bethlehem
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishBest known as the biblical birthplace of Jesus; also the root of the word "bedlam."
Easily confused with
Word Forms
Bethlehems plural
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Pilgrims travel to _____ every Christmas to visit the Church of the Nativity.
Etymology
From Hebrew beth lechem, literally "house of bread," passed into English via Greek and Latin. The word "bedlam" is a doublet, coming from the same source through the nickname of London's infamous Bethlehem psychiatric hospital.