mitzvah
Americannoun
-
any of the collection of 613 commandments or precepts in the Bible and additional ones of rabbinic origin that relate chiefly to the religious and moral conduct of Jews.
-
any good or praiseworthy deed.
noun
-
a commandment or precept, esp one found in the Bible
-
a good deed
Etymology
Origin of mitzvah
First recorded in 1720–30; from Hebrew miṣwāh “command, commandment”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Bandel came with his entire family to celebrate his grandson's upcoming bar mitzvah, the Jewish coming-of-age ritual.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
As a child in New Orleans, Nicholas Lemann never attended a bar mitzvah or heard Hebrew.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
My kid has her bat mitzvah in February.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 26, 2025
My brother had his bar mitzvah at the mountaintop fortress of Masada overlooking the Dead Sea.
From Salon • Nov. 30, 2025
“Any son of mine who’s having a Zoom bar mitzvah is going to have the best Zoom bar mitzvah it’s possible to have.”
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
