Synagogue Meaning
/ˈsɪnəɡɒɡ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA place of worship for Jews or Samaritans.
nounA congregation of Jews or Samaritans for the purpose of worship or religious study.
Sentence Examples
The protesters burnt down the synagogue.
I'm going back to the synagogue.
You couldn't just don a skullcap and gatecrash a synagogue.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The Jewish community gathered at the ____ for the holiday service on Saturday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local community gathered at the ____ to celebrate an important religious holiday together this morning today.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English synagoge, from Old French synagoge, from Latin synagōga, from Ancient Greek σῠνᾰγωγή (sŭnăgōgḗ, “assembly, gathering”), from συνάγω (sunágō, “to gather together”), from σῠ́ν (sŭ́n, “with, together”) & ᾰ̓́γω (ắgō, “to lead”). By surface analysis, syn- + -agogue.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"On Tuesday, Netanyahu and his wife toured Shanghai’s Ohel Moshe synagogue in the Hongkou district that was home to many of the 18,000 Jews granted refuge in Shanghai from the horrors of Nazi persecution."
— 2013 May 7, “Netanyahu: Jewish people capable of own defense”, in AP News, archived from the original on 25 May 2022:
"But when they come hither, and ſee a Tympany of Spanioliz’d Biſhops ſwaggering in the fore-top of the State, and meddling to turn and dandle the Royal Ball with unskilful and Pedantick Palms, no marvel though they think it as unſafe to commit Religion and Liberty to their arbitrating as to a Synagogue of Jeſuits."
— 1698, John Milton, A Complete Collection of the Hiſtorical, Political, and Miſcellaneous Works of John Milton, volume I, Amsterdam, page 267:
"It is in this period that some Christian authors even refer to the “Synagogue of … Muhammad,” demonstrating the extent to which they perceive non-Christian groups as one and the same.¹¹¹"
— 2024, Şener Aktürk, “Not So Innocent: Clerics, Monarchs, and the Ethnoreligious Cleansing of Western Europe”, in International Security, volume 48, number 8, page 106:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The Jewish community gathered at the ____ for the holiday service on Saturday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local community gathered at the ____ to celebrate an important religious holiday together this morning today.