church

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a service conducted in a house of worship

   don't be late for church

2. 2
   noun

   a place for public (especially Christian) worship

   the church was empty

3. 3
   noun

   the body of people who attend or belong to a particular local church

   our church is hosting a picnic next week

4. 4
   verb

   to perform a special church rite or service for

   The family was churched after their child was born.

5. 5
   noun

   A Christian house of worship; a building where Christian religious services take place.

   There is a lovely little church in the valley.

6. 6
   noun

   Christians collectively seen as a single spiritual community; Christianity; Christendom.

   These worshippers make up the Church of Christ.

7. 7
   noun

   A local group of people who follow the same Christian religious beliefs, local or general.

   Many young people find their only role models of family life in church.

8. 8
   noun

   A particular denomination of Christianity.

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

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,…