Etymologically
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chaplain

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈt͡ʃæp.lɪn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English chapelein, also chapelain and chaplein,[2][3] borrowed from Old French chapelain, Anglo-Norman chapelein,[4][5][6][7][8] from Medieval Latin cappellānus (“clergyman; secretary of a king or noble”),[4][9][10] from cappella (“chapel; little cloak”), the source of chapel.[9][11][12] This was a diminutive of Late Latin cappa (“cape, cloak”).[4][11] The word originally denoted the keepers of the sacred cloak of St Martin of Tours, which was kept as a relic in a shrine called the cappella.[5][11][12][13] The French form replaced an earlier capelein, recorded in 1114 in the Peterborough Chronicle,[3][2][7] which continued late capellan, borrowed directly from the Medieval Latin word.[3][4][14][15] Related forms are capellan and cappellano.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A clergyman who conducts services in the private chapel of a king or lord: in the Old English form capellan in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1099,[5] and as capelein in the Peterborough Chronicle for 1114.[2][3] The French form chapeleyn appears in versions of Piers Plowman, before 1376 according to Barnhart, 1393 in the OED.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The Old English sense, a clergyman who holds private services, originally in a great household, continued in chaplain,[4][5] and Langland also used the word generally for the priest of a chapel; in Middle English it often meant a chantry priest.[5][2] Chaucer's Prologue gives the Prioress a nun as her chapeleyne, and the word was used for such a nun in a convent.[5][16] Johnson (1755) still defined it as one who reads prayers and preaches in a chapel for the king or another great person and his family.[17] The word was later extended to clergy attached to regiments, prisons, hospitals, schools and other bodies.[4][18][9]

Timeline

  • 1099 – Old English capellan, a clergyman of a private chapel.[5]
  • 1114 – Middle English capelein, in the Peterborough Chronicle.[2][3]
  • before 1376 – chapeleyn, in a version of Piers Plowman.[3]
  • 1393 – the priest of a chapel; a chantry priest.[5]
  • c. 1405 – a nun who recites services in a convent's chapel, in Chaucer.[5]
  • 1755 – Johnson defines it as one who performs divine service in a chapel and attends the king or another person.[17]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A member of the clergy attached to a chapel, especially the private chapel of a sovereign, noble or institution such as a college: the college chaplain.[18][9][5]
  2. A member of the clergy officially attached to a military unit, a prison, a hospital or another body: She served as an army chaplain for ten years.[18][9]
  3. A person chosen to lead prayers or religious exercises for an organization or a gathering.[9]

Word family

  • chaplaincy

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  12. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  14. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  15. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  16. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins