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Ha·nuk·kah or Ha·nu·kah also Cha·nu·kah (änə-kə, hä-)
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n.
Judaism
An eight-day festival beginning on the 25th day of Kislev, commemorating the victory in 165 BC of the Maccabees over Antiochus Epiphanes (c. 215-164 BC) and the rededication of the Temple at Jerusalem. Also called Feast of Dedication, Feast of Lights, Festival of Lights.

[Hebrew ănukkâ, dedication, from ānak, to train, dedicate; see nk in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.