Eucharist

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English eukarist,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French eucariste,^[4][5][6][7] now French eucharistie,^[7][8] from Late Latin eucharistia,^[5][6] from Ancient Greek εὐχαριστία (eukharistía, “thanksgiving, gratitude”), later "the Lord's Supper",^[5][4] from εὐχάριστος (eukháristos, “grateful”), formed from εὐ- (eu-, “well”) and the stem of χαρίζεσθαι (kharízesthai, “to show favour, offer willingly”), from χάρις (kháris, “favour, grace”).^{[5][9][7][10]} Etymonline traces the Greek noun to Proto-Indo-European *gher- (“to like, want”),^[5] and Ayto calls kháris probably a distant relative of yearn.^[9] The related Greek verb meaning "to thank" is the usual word for "to give thanks" in the Septuagint and the New Testament.^[5] The English word took the place of the native Old English hūsl.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The sacrament of the Lord's Supper: about 1350 according to Barnhart and Etymonline.^[6][5] The MED's first quotation is from a manuscript of about 1390 of the Northern Homily Cycle, and the OED's from before 1400.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Greek the word meant "gratitude, thanksgiving" before it was applied to the Lord's Supper,^[5][4] and Ayto notes that it corresponds to the native English thanksgiving.^[9] In English it came to mean the consecrated bread and wine about 1540, and for a time (1560–1600) the vessel holding the consecrated bread, the pyx.^[4] The sense "thanksgiving" is recorded from 1604, in Cawdrey's Table Alphabeticall,^[4] and Johnson (1755) defined the word first as "the act of giving thanks" and then as the sacrament.^[11] The adjective eucharistical is recorded from the 16th century and eucharistic from the 17th.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1350 – the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.^[6][5]
• c. 1540 – the consecrated elements, especially the bread.^[4]
• 1560 – the pyx, the vessel for the consecrated bread (obsolete by 1600).^[4]
• 16th century – the adjective eucharistical.^[7]
• 1604 – thanksgiving, in Cawdrey's Table Alphabeticall.^[4]
• 17th century – the adjective eucharistic.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The Christian sacrament that commemorates the Last Supper by the consecration of bread and wine; Communion.^[12][3][4]
2. The consecrated bread and wine.^[12][4]
3. The Mass, as the service in which this sacrament is given.^[12]
4. The giving of thanks.^[4][11]

Word family

• Eucharistic
• Eucharistically

Related words

• charisma
• charism
• eu-
• yearn
• housel

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins