iglesia

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish iglesia.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -esja
• Hyphenation: i‧gle‧sia

Noun

iglesia

1. (Christianity) church

Classical Nahuatl

Alternative forms

• yglesia, ygrecia, ylecia (obsolete or variant spellings)

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish iglesia (“church”), from Old Spanish eglesia, from Vulgar Latin eclesia, from Latin ecclēsia, from Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “assembly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [i.leːˈsí.jaʔ]

Noun

iglesia (inanimate, plural iglesia)

1. (colonial, Christianity) (it is) a church.

Proper noun

iglesia (inanimate)

1. (colonial) (it is) the Roman Catholic Church.

Derived terms

• in santa iglesia

Old Navarro-Aragonese

Noun

iglesia f (plural iglesias)

1. church

Papiamentu

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish iglesia.

Noun

iglesia

1. church

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish eglesia (9th century), a semi-learned descendant of Vulgar Latin eclesia, from Latin ecclēsia, from Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “assembly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iˈɡlesja/ [iˈɣ̞le.sja]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -esja
• Syllabification: i‧gle‧sia

Noun

iglesia f (plural iglesias)

1. (Christianity) church

Derived terms

• anteiglesia
• arco de iglesia
• cuerpo de iglesia
• día de iglesia
• golondrina de iglesias
• iglesia catedral
• iglesia me llamo
• iglesia parroquial

Related terms

• eclesiástico
• eclesiología

Descendants

• → Central Bikol: iglesya
• → Chavacano: iglesia
• → Classical Nahuatl: iglesia
• → Fala: iglesia
• Palenquero: ilesia
• → Papiamentu: iglesia
• → Tagalog: iglesya

Further reading

• “iglesia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025