Bethlehemum

Latin

Alternative forms

Bēthleëm, Bēthlēēm, Bēthlehem, Bēthlem

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém), from Biblical Hebrew בּית לחם (Bet Léchem). The Ancient Greek etymon and all the other forms of this word are indeclinable; Bēthlehēmum was adapted to decline as a neuter proper noun of the second declension.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [beːtʰ.ɫeˈ(ɦ)eː.mũː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [bet̪.leˈɛː.mum]

Proper noun

Bēthlehēmum n sg (genitive Bēthlehēmī); second declension

Bethlehem (a town of the tribe of Judah, the birthplace of David and of Christ, now Bēt Laḥm)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter), with locative, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Bēthlehēmum
genitive	Bēthlehēmī
dative	Bēthlehēmō
accusative	Bēthlehēmum
ablative	Bēthlehēmō
vocative	Bēthlehēmum
locative	Bēthlehēmī

Synonyms

(Bethlehem): Ephrāta

Derived terms

Bēthlaeus
Bēthleëmicus
Bēthlehemītēs
Bēthlemiticus

Descendants

English: bedlam, Bethlehem

References

“Bēthlĕhēmum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press