churchyard

Etymology

It is formed from English church + yard,^[2][3][4] and the Middle English form is chirche-yerd, also chircheyerd.^[5][6] The OED compares kirkyard, kirk-garth and church garth.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The consecrated ground around a church: before 1160, in the Peterborough continuation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "Nouther circe ne cyrce iærd".^[2][5] Etymonline calls it late Old English,^[3] and Merriam-Webster dates it to the 12th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The enclosed ground was the normal burial place of a parish, and also a place of refuge and of secular activity in the Middle Ages.^[5][2] The word early appears in surnames, such as Ric. de la Chirchard (1291) and John atte Chircheyerde (1298).^[2] By 1467 it was also used of the precincts of a cathedral or large church, as a place to live or trade,^[2] and since 1477 of a burial ground not attached to a Christian church.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as the ground by a church where the dead are buried, a cemetery.^[7] Its link with death gave churchyard cough, a cough likely to prove fatal (1696),^[8] and the proverb that a green winter makes a fat churchyard (1635).^[2]

Timeline

• before 1160 – the consecrated ground around a church.^[2][5]
• 1467 – the precincts of a cathedral or large church.^[2]
• 1477 – a burial ground not belonging to a Christian church.^[2]
• 1635 – the proverb a green winter makes a fat churchyard.^[2]
• 1696 – churchyard cough.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The enclosed ground around a church, often used as a burial ground.^[9][6][2]
2. (rare) A graveyard or cemetery not belonging to a Christian church.^[2]
3. (historical) The precincts of a cathedral or large church, as a place of residence or trade.^[2]

Related words

• church
• yard
• kirkyard

Usage notes

The first edition of the OED (1889) noted that the stress already fell on church in Shakespeare, but that Saint Paul's Churchyard was usually stressed on yard, as the word always was in Scots.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d 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)
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins