church

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /tʃɜːtʃ/, US /tʃɝːtʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English chirche, inherited from Old English cirice,^[2][3] from Proto-West Germanic *kirika,^[4][5] probably borrowed by way of an unrecorded Gothic word^[2][6] from Ancient Greek κυρικόν (kurikón), for κυριακόν (kuriakón), short for kuriakòn dôma “the Lord's house”,^[4][5][6] the neuter of κυριακός (kuriakós, “of the lord”), from κύριος (kúrios, “lord, master”).^[2][3][7] Etymonline traces kúrios to Proto-Indo-European *keuə- (“to swell”), with derivatives meaning “strong, powerful”,^[2][8] and Barnhart compares Sanskrit śū́ra “hero”.^[3][9] The Germanic cognates include Old Saxon kirika, Dutch kerk, German Kirche and Old Norse kirkja,^[2][5] and the Slavic forms, such as Russian церковь (cerkovʹ), were probably borrowed from Germanic.^[2][3][7] Etymonline notes that Greek kuriakón was used of Christian houses of worship from about 300, though less often than ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía), the source of the Romance and Celtic words such as French église.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A building for public Christian worship: Old English cirice, 696 in the OED;^[10] Barnhart cites Cynewulf, about 750, for both the place of worship and the Christians collectively.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the word also meant ecclesiastical authority.^[2] Barnhart notes that the spelling church appears at the end of the 13th century, becomes more frequent after 1450 and is established in the 16th century,^[3] while northern kirk continues the form with k.^[10][5] After the Reformation church came to be used of any particular Christian denomination.^[2] Trench notes that earlier English also called a Jewish or pagan temple a church, so that robbers of churches in the King James Version of Acts 19:37 is not an oversight.^[11] The verb, “to bring to church for a rite”, is from the 14th century,^[2][9] especially of a woman giving thanks after childbirth from 1387.^[10]

Timeline

• 696 – Old English cirice.^[10]
• c. 750 – the Christian community (Cynewulf).^[3]
• before 1200 – Middle English chirche (Layamon).^[3]
• 1387 – verb, to church a woman after childbirth.^[10]
• 16th century – the spelling church established.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A building for public, especially Christian, worship.
2. (often Church) The whole body of Christians; a particular Christian denomination; a congregation.
3. Public worship; a religious service.
4. The clergy as a profession.
5. Ecclesiastical power as opposed to the state.

Verb

1. To hold a church service for, especially for a woman after childbirth.

Adjective

1. Of the church; ecclesiastical.

Related words

• church key
• church mode
• church school
• church triumphant
• collegiate church
• kirk
• Kyrie
• ecclesiastical
• cave

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker