Eid al-Adha

American  

[eed uhl-ahd-hah] / id əlˈɑd hɑ /

Or Eid ul-Adha,

noun

1. a major festival of Islam, beginning on the tenth day of the last month of the calendar and lasting for four days, usually characterized by the sacrificing of a sheep, whose flesh is divided among relatives and friends in memory of the ransom of Ishmael with a ram.

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Etymology

Origin of Eid al-Adha

First recorded in 1730–40, Eid al-Adha is from Arabic ʿīd al-aḍḥā “festival of sacrifice”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Eid al-Adha

The hajj's last day is also the start of Eid al-Adha, the festival celebrating Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son before the angel Gabriel intervened and offered him a goat in Ishmael's place.

From Barron's ● May 27, 2026

The streets were busy with shoppers who had broken their fasts ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

Central to Eid al-Adha celebrations, which mark the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, is the sacrificing of a sheep.

From Barron's ● May 27, 2026

King Mohammed VI has asked Moroccans to abstain from performing the Muslim rite of slaughtering sheep during Eid al-Adha this year due to a sharp drop in the country's herd.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2025

On Thursday, a man carries a sheep in an Egyptian market in the city of Giza in preparation for Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice - a major Islamic holiday.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2024