chuppah means the canopy over a Jewish couple during their marriage ceremony.
chuppah is pronounced /ˈxʊpə/.
Why “chuppah” is a great word
A canopy, often of cloth stretched upon four poles, under which a Jewish wedding ceremony is solemnized, symbolizing the couple’s new home together. From Hebrew חֻפָּה (ḥuppâ, "covering, canopy"), via Yiddish. Unlike an altar—a consecrated, stationary structure for sacraments—or a mandap—the ritual pavilion of a Hindu wedding—the chuppah is a temporary and non-consecrated sanctity, a shelter defined by its openness to the sky. It is the tangible absence of a roof, the four poles held by friends as walls, the couple standing exposed beneath a shared covering—a home built not of enclosure, but of the fragile and human space of a promise, air, and the courage to begin.
Etymology
From Hebrew חופה \ חֻפָּה (ḥuppâ).
noun
- The canopy over a Jewish couple during their marriage ceremony.“The dveykut that accompanied the groom as he walked down the aisle to the chupah was truly inspirational.”
- A marriage ceremony, wedding.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- chasseneh 84% match — A wedding. vs chuppah →
- sukkah 84% match — A temporary dwelling or booth used by practising Jews during Tabernacles (Sukkot). vs chuppah →
- kiddushin 83% match — An engagement (promise to marry) between a man and a woman, made by themselves or by relatives. vs chuppah →
- shidduch 82% match — A system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to each other. vs chuppah →
- kippah 82% match — The cloth skullcap or yarmulke traditionally worn by male Jews. vs chuppah →
- aufruf 81% match — An aliyah (Torah reading) made by the bridegroom, typically on the Shabbat before the wedding; a gathering at which this occurs. vs chuppah →
- ciborium 80% match — A fixed vaulted canopy over a Christian altar, supported on four columns. vs chuppah →
- parochet 80% match — The curtain that covered the Ark of the Covenant. vs chuppah →