bar mitzvah

noun (often initial capital letters)

1. a solemn ceremony held in the synagogue, usually on Saturday morning, to admit as an adult member of the Jewish community a Jewish boy 13 years old who has successfully completed a prescribed course of study in Judaism.
2. the boy participating in this ceremony.

verb (used with object)

3. to administer the ceremony of bar mitzvah to: Our son was bar mitzvahed at the family synagogue.

adjective

1. (of a Jewish boy) having assumed full religious obligations, being at least thirteen years of age

noun

2. the occasion, ceremony, or celebration of that event
3. the boy himself on that day

1861, in Judaism, “male person who has completed his 13th year and thus reached the age of religious responsibility,” from Hebrew, literally “son of command.” As a name for the ceremony itself, by 1941.

An important ceremony and social event in Judaism marking the beginning of religious responsibility for Jewish boys of thirteen. Bar mitzvah is Hebrew for “son of the commandment.”