mikvah

American  

[mee-kvah, mik-vuh] / miˈkvɑ, ˈmɪk və /

Or mikveh

noun

Hebrew.

mikvoth, plural mikvot, plural mikvos, plural mikvahs plural

1. a ritual bath to which Orthodox Jews are traditionally required to go on certain occasions, as before the Sabbath and after each menstrual period, to cleanse and purify themselves.

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mikvah British  

/ mikˈvɑ, ˈmikvə /

noun

1. Judaism a pool used esp by women for ritual purification after their monthly period

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• mikvahs
  plural
• mikvoth
  plural
• mikvot
  plural
• mikvos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mikvah

from Hebrew

Example Sentences

He talks with Anita Diamant, the author and founding president of Mayyim Hayyim, which reimagines the Jewish purifying ritual of mikvah bathing.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Students from Colby College helped harvest ice from a pond for a new mikvah, or ritual bath, at a synagogue in Waterville.

From New York Times • Apr. 6, 2024

They bathed in a ritual bath, or mikvah, on the banks of the Gera River and buried their dead in a large cemetery just outside the city walls.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 30, 2022

Ginsberg, who is a consulting expert on Jewish purity laws, stressed the importance of the mikvah for Jewish married life.

From Washington Post • Apr. 28, 2020

“Then this is your mikvah in preparation for your new life in the camp.”

From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen