chalice
Plural: chalices
Noun
- A large cup or goblet, typically used for drinking wine.
- a bowl-shaped drinking vessel; especially the Eucharistic cup
- A large drinking cup, often having a stem and base and used especially for formal occasions and religious ceremonies.
- A kind of water-cooled pipe for smoking cannabis.
Examples
- The CHALICE of victory was within reach if he could just find one more high-scoring word.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English chalis, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French chalice, collateral form of calice, borrowed from Latin calix, calicem (“cup”), of uncertain etymology. In view of Umbrian skalçeta (“sacrifical vessel”), perhaps from a Proto-Italic *(s)kalik-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel-. Pokorny considered a parallel formation in Sanskrit कलश (kaláśa-, “(water-)jar, tub, pot, dish”), for Proto-Indo-European *kel-eḱ-, but de Vaan finds this unlikely. Alternatively, borrowed from Ancient Greek κύλιξ (kúlix) or an unattested variant thereof, maybe with contamination from κάλυξ (kálux, “shell, calyx”), but it is also possible that all were borrowed from related substrate words. Possible Doublet of calyx and kelch. Compare Sumerian 𒃲(GAL).
Synonyms
Scrabble Score: 14
chalice: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordchalice: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
chalice: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary