church

A2 Topic:Religion & Belief

US /ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃ/ UK /ˈt͡ʃɜːt͡ʃ/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like search /tʃ/ vs /s/

Freq #943

Meanings

1

noun
A building where Christians meet to worship.

There is a lovely little church in the valley.
2

noun
A religious service held in a church.

Don't be late for church on Sunday.
3

noun
A particular branch or organization of the Christian religion.

The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534.
4

noun
The group of people who attend or belong to a particular church.

Our church is hosting a picnic next week.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a building where christians... chapel kirk

More autem congregation

Word family

Forms churcheschurchgoing

Derived forms antechurchantichurchchampchampingchopchurchchristchurchchurch-alechurch-doorchurch-goerchurch-goingchurch-loadchurch-ridden

Appears in

Phrases (5)

See all

local church
The church serving one's own community or neighbourhood

Adjective + noun
join a church
To become a member of a church congregation

Verb + noun
attend church
To go to religious services at a church regularly

Verb + noun
leave the church
To cease being a member of a church or religious denomination

Verb + noun
cathedral church
a church containing the official seat of a bishop

Noun + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Simplified etymology

Church comes from Old English circe or cirice and is related to German Kirche, Dutch kerk, and Scots kirk. These forms ultimately derive from medieval Greek kurikon, from kuriakon dōma, “the Lord’s house,” based on kurios, “master” or “lord.”

Etymology

From Middle English chirche, from Old English ċiriċe (“church”), from Proto-West Germanic *kirikā, an early borrowing of Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón), neuter form of κυριακός (kuriakós, “belonging to the lord”), from κύριος (kúrios, “ruler, lord”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, spread out, be strong, prevail”). Doublet of kirk. additional etymological information For vowel evolution, see bury. Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón) was used of houses of Christian worship since circa 300 CE, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía,…

*ḱewh₁- Proto-Indo-European chirche Middle English ċiriċe Old English *kirikā Proto-West Germanic κυριακόν Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Religion & Belief

External links

# church

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈt͡ʃɜːt͡ʃ/
**Frequency rank:** 943

## Meanings
1. A building where Christians meet to worship.
2. A religious service held in a church.
3. A particular branch or organization of the Christian religion.
4. The group of people who attend or belong to a particular church.

## Examples
- There is a lovely little church in the valley.
- Don't be late for church on Sunday.
- The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534.
- Our church is hosting a picnic next week.

## Synonyms
- autem
- congregation

## Derived Forms
- antechurch
- antichurch
- champ
- champing
- chopchurch
- christchurch
- church-ale
- church-door
- church-goer
- church-going
- church-load
- church-ridden

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ḱewh₁-
- Root: chirche
- Root: ċiriċe
- Root: *kirikā
- Root: κυριακόν

## Etymology
From Middle English chirche, from Old English ċiriċe (“church”), from Proto-West Germanic *kirikā, an early borrowing of Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón), neuter form of κυριακός (kuriakós, “belonging to the lord”), from κύριος (kúrios, “ruler, lord”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, spread out, be strong, prevail”). Doublet of kirk. additional etymological information For vowel evolution, see bury. Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón) was used of houses of Christian worship since circa 300 CE, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía,…

## AI Etymology
church is a noun and verb. It is from Middle English chirche, from Old English ċiriċe (“church”), from Proto-West Germanic *kirikā, an early borrowing of Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón), neuter form of κυριακός (kuriakós, “belonging to the lord”), from κύριος (kúrios, “ruler, lord”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, spread out, be strong, prevail”). Doublet of kirk. additional etymological information For vowel evolution, see bury. Historical forms in the chain include *ḱewh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), chirche (Middle English), ċiriċe (Old English), *kirikā (Proto-West Germanic), and κυριακόν (Ancient Greek). Current senses include a building where Christians meet to worship, a religious service held in a church, and a particular branch or organization of the Christian religion. Derived forms include antechurch, antichurch, champ, champing, and chopchurch.

## Topics
- Religion & Belief

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