church
Meanings
Plural: churches
Noun
- one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship
- a place for public (especially Christian) worship
- "the church was empty"
- a service conducted in a house of worship
- "don't be late for church"
- the body of people who attend or belong to a particular local church
- "our church is hosting a picnic next week"
- A Christian house of worship; a building where Christian religious services take place.
- Christians collectively seen as a single spiritual community; Christianity; Christendom.
- A local group of people who follow the same Christian religious beliefs, local or general.
- A particular denomination of Christianity.
- Christian worship held at a church; service.
- Organized religion in general or a specific religion considered as a political institution.
- Any religious group or place of worship; a temple.
- Assembly.
Verb
- perform a special church rite or service for
- "church a woman after childbirth"
- To conduct a religious service for (a woman after childbirth, or a newly married couple).
- To educate someone religiously, as in in a church.
Intj
- Used to express strong agreement.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English chirche, from Old English ċiriċe (“church”), from Proto-West Germanic *kirikā, an early borrowing of Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón), neuter form of κυριακός (kuriakós, “belonging to the lord”), from κύριος (kúrios, “ruler, lord”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, spread out, be strong, prevail”). Doublet of kirk.
additional etymological information
For vowel evolution, see bury. Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón) was used of houses of Christian worship since circa 300 CE, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “congregation”) or βασιλική (basilikḗ, “royal thing”). An example of the direct Greek-to-Germanic progress of many Christian words, possibly via the Goths; it was probably used by West Germanic people in their pre-Christian period. Cognate with Scots kirk (“church”), West Frisian tsjerke (“church”), Saterland Frisian Säärke (“church”), Dutch kerk (“church”), German Kirche (“church”), Danish kirke (“church”), Swedish kyrka (“church”), Norwegian Bokmål kirke, Norwegian Nynorsk kyrkje (“church”), and Icelandic kirkja (“church”). Also picked up by Slavic, via Old High German chirihha (compare Old Church Slavonic црькꙑ (crĭky), Bulgarian църква (cǎrkva), Russian це́рковь (cérkovʹ)). Romance and Celtic languages use descendants of Latin ecclēsia.
Synonyms
autem, chapel, Christian church, church, church building, church service, congregation, kirk, preach
Scrabble Score: 16
church is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordchurch is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
church is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary