church
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
See also Church
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Middle English chirche < Old English ċiriċe, from West Germanic *kirika, from Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakon), neuter form of κυριακός (“‘belonging to the lord’”) from κύριος (kurios), “‘ruler, lord’”). For vowel evolution, see bury. Greek κυριακόν (kuriakon) was used of houses of Christian worship since circa 300 AD, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia), “‘congregation’”) or βασιλική (basilikē), “‘royal thing’”). An example of the direct Greek-to-Germanic progress of many Christian words, via the Goths; it was probably used by West Germanic people in their pre-Christian period. Cognate with West Frisian tsjerke, Dutch kerk, German Kirche, Danish kirke, Swedish kyrka, Norwegian kirke or kyrkje, and Icelandic kirkja. Also picked up by Slavic, via Old High German chirihha (compare Old Church Slavonic црькъі (crĭky), Russian церковь (cérkov’)). Romance and Celtic languages use variants of Latin ecclesia.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Alternative spellings
- churche (obsolete)
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
church (plural churches)
- A Christian house of worship; a building where religious services take place.
- There is a lovely little church in the valley.
- A Christian religious organization, local or general.
- The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534.
- The church across the street has a service at 10 am.
- A group of people who follow the same Christian religious beliefs, local or general.
- These worshippers comprise the Church of Christ.
- Acts 20:28, New International Version:
- Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
- A time of public worship; a worship service.
- I'll be there after church.
[edit] Synonyms
- (building): chapel (small church), kirk (Scottish)
- (group of worshippers): congregation
[edit] Derived terms
Look at pages starting with church.
Derived terms
[edit] See also
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[edit] Translations
a house of worship
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a religious organization
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a group of people who follow the same Christian religious beliefs
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a worship service
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
[edit] Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to church (third-person singular simple present churches, present participle churching, simple past and past participle churched)
- (transitive) To conduct a religious service for a woman after childbirth
- (transitive) To educate someone religiously, as in in a church.
