Gethsemane

American  

[geth-sem-uh-nee] / gɛθˈsɛm ə ni /

noun

1. (in the Bible) a garden east of Jerusalem, near the brook of Kedron: scene of Jesus' agony and betrayal.

2. gethsemane, a scene or occasion of suffering; calvary.

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Gethsemane British  

/ ɡɛθˈsɛmənɪ /

noun

1. New Testament the garden in Jerusalem where Christ was betrayed on the night before his Crucifixion (Matthew 26:36–56)

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Other Word Forms

• Gethsemanic adjective
• gethsemanic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Gethsemane

From Late Latin Gethsēmani, from Greek Gethsēmaní, probably from assumed Aramaic gadh shĕmānē, from Hebrew gath shĕmānīm “oil press”

Example Sentences

In “Gethsemane,” the path of suffering becomes clear, and Erivo’s transcendence was all the more worshipped by the audience for being painfully achieved.

From Los Angeles Times

He painted hundreds, murals of a jungle and of the Garden of Gethsemane at the old Clifton’s cafeteria, five panels of L.A. history at the Rosslyn Hotel — now, predictably, covered up, damaged, destroyed.

From Los Angeles Times

The show’s straightforward plot trajectory is neatly summed up in a dismal couplet in the lament “Gethsemane,” in which Jesus finally resigns himself to his fate: “Then, I was inspired / Now I’m sad and tired.”

From New York Times

The procession made its way from the Mount of Olives past the Garden of Gethsemane where, according to biblical tradition, Jesus was betrayed, then finally into the alleyways of the Old City.

From Seattle Times

If the childlike pleas of Telemann’s cantata “Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus” struck a modern ear as a strange way to express Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, then Bach’s “Ich habe genug” was the opposite: magnificent and profound.

From New York Times