It's the Word of the Day podcast for December 26th.
Today's word is menorah, spelled M-E-N-O-R-A-H.
menorah is a noun.
A menorah is a candelabra with seven or nine lights that is used in Jewish worship.
Here's the word used in a sentence from USA Today by Anna Kaufman.
Rich with history and laced with just a bit of Latke Greece,
Hanukkah is a time for Jews to gather with family and friends and retell a fabled story of resistance.
While certain symbols of the holiday, like the menorah,
a decorative candelabra, and the dreidel, a foresighted spinning top,
may be more easily recognizable in popular culture,
there is plenty more to learn about Hanukkah and why it's celebrated.
In English,
the word menorah was originally the name for a seven-branched candelabra used in Jewish worship.
The nine-branched Hanukkah candelabra is called Hanakaya in Hebrew,
but English speakers came to use menorah for this, too.
The Hanukkah menorah recalls expulsion by Judah Maccabee of invading forces from the Temple of Jerusalem.
Maccabee and his followers sought oil for the temple's menorah so that the sanctuary could be rededicated,
but they found only enough oil for a single day.
Miraculously, that tiny amount of oil burned for eight days until a new supply could be obtained.
The Hanukkah menorah includes a candle for each day the oil burned,