AskDefine | Define church

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Dictionary Definition

church

Noun

1 one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship [syn: Christian church]
2 a place for public (especially Christian) worship; "the church was empty" [syn: church building]
3 a service conducted in a church; "don't be late for church" [syn: church service]
4 the body of people who attend or belong to a particular local church; "our church is hosting a picnic next week" v : perform a special church rite or service for; "church a woman after childbirth"

User Contributed Dictionary

English

Etymology

etyl enm chirche < etyl ang ċiriċe, from West Germanic *|kirika, from etyl grc κυριακόν, neuter form of κυριακός from κύριος. For vowel evolution, see bury. Greek κυριακόν 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 or βασιλική. 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. Also picked up by Slavic, via Old High German chirihha (compare Old Church Slavonic sc=Cyrl, Russian sc=Cyrl). Romance and Celtic languages use variants of Latin ecclesia.

Pronunciation

Noun

  1. A Christian house of worship; a building where religious services take place.
    There is a lovely little church in the valley.
  2. 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.
  3. A group of people who follow the same Christian religious beliefs, local or general.
    These worshippers comprise the Church of Christ.
    Be shepherds of the church of God (Acts 20:28).
  4. A time of public worship; a worship service.
    I'll be there after church.

Synonyms

building group of worshippers

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

a house of worship
a religious organization
a worship service

Verb

to church
  1. To conduct a religious service for a woman after childbirth

Derived terms

See also

Appendix:Ecclesiastical terms

Extensive Definition

Church may refer to:

Religion

Christian Church, the worldwide body of Christians or a local Christian body of people Church, the body of people who share a faith or a religious organization, (usually within Christianity) Church (building), a building used for religious services, usually referring specifically to those for Christian worship

Places

People

Music

Fiction

See also

church in Aragonese: Ilesia
church in Breton: Iliz
church in Bulgarian: Църква
church in Catalan: Església
church in Danish: Kirke
church in German: Church
church in Spanish: Iglesia (desambiguación)
church in French: Church
church in Italian: Chiesa
church in Latvian: Baznīca
church in Luxembourgish: Kierch
church in Limburgan: Kèrk
church in Hungarian: Church
church in Dutch: Kerk
church in Japanese: チャーチ
church in Norwegian: Kirke (andre betydninger)
church in Polish: Kościół
church in Romanian: Biserică (dezambiguizare)
church in Russian: Церковь (значения)
church in Simple English: Church (disambiguation)
church in Slovak: Denominácia
church in Slovenian: Cerkev
church in Swedish: Kyrka (olika betydelser)
church in Ukrainian: Церква
church in Walloon: Eglijhe

Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words

Mass, adherents, affiliation, apostleship, bedtime prayer, body, branch, call, camp meeting, care of souls, church service, churchly, class, communion, community, compline, confession, connection, creed, cult, denomination, devotions, disciples, divine service, division, duty, evening devotions, evensong, exercises, faction, faith, fellowship, followers, group, holy orders, house of prayer, ism, lauds, liturgy, matins, meeting, morning devotions, night song, none, nones, novena, office, offshoot, order, organization, party, pastorage, pastoral care, pastorate, persuasion, praise meeting, prayer, prayer meeting, prayers, priesthood, priestship, prime, prime song, public worship, rabbinate, religious order, revival, revival meeting, sacred calling, schism, school, sect, sectarism, segment, service, sext, society, spiritual, tabernacle, temple, tent meeting, the church, the cloth, the desk, the ministry, the pulpit, tierce, undersong, variety, version, vesper, vespers, vigils, vocation, watch meeting, watch night, watch-night service
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