Bethesda

English

Bethesda

Etymology

From Aramaic בֵּית חַסְדָּא (bēṯ ḥasdā, “House of Grace”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈθɛz.də/

Proper noun

Bethesda

1. (biblical) A pool in Jerusalem mentioned in the New Testament.
2. An unincorporated census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States.
3. A village in Belmont County, Ohio, United States.
4. A town in Gwynedd, Wales (OS grid ref SH6266).
5. A small village in Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SN0917).

Derived terms

• Bethesda system

 

Translations

pool in Jerusalem

• Catalan: Betesda
• French: Bethesda (fr) f
• German: Bethesda
• Greek: Βηθεσδά (el) f (Vithesdá)
• Italian: Betzaeta f
• Polish: Betesda (pl) f
• Portuguese: Betesda f
• Russian: Вифезда f (Vifezda)
• Spanish: Betesdá f

Noun

Bethesda (plural Bethesdas)

1. (poetic) Any location whose waters are supposed to have curative properties.
   • 1903, Thomas De Witt Talmage, Richard S Rhodes, Evils of the cities:

     ...those who are afflicted with rheumatic, neuralgic, and splenetic diseases, go, and are cured by the thousands. These Bethesdas are scattered all up and down our country, blessed be God!

   • 1978, Garry Wills, Values Americans live by:

     Time was when this Bethesda too was curative, a sweet oasis in a parched and driven city. The day we went we found the fountain had been shut off.