altarn.

Brit.

/ˈɔːltə/,

/ˈɒltə/, U.S.

/ˈɔltər/,

/ˈɑltər/

Forms:

α. Old English altr- (inflected form), Old English–1600s altare, Old English–1600s alter, early Middle English allterr ( Ormulum), Middle English–1500s allter, Middle English–1500s altere, Middle English– altar, 1500s alterres (plural), 1500s halter, 1600s alltar; Scottish pre-1700 allter, pre-1700 altair, pre-1700 altare, pre-1700 alteir, pre-1700 alter, pre-1700 altere, pre-1700 halter, pre-1700 1700s– altar.

β. Middle English autar, Middle English auteer, Middle English autir, Middle English autorris (plural), Middle English autyr, Middle English autyre, Middle English auuter, Middle English auutere, Middle English avter, Middle English avtre, Middle English awtar, Middle English awteer, Middle English awtir, Middle English awtyr, Middle English nawter, Middle English nawtyr, Middle English–1500s auter, Middle English–1500s autere, Middle English–1500s autre, Middle English–1500s awter, Middle English–1500s awtere, 1500s autare, 1500s autter, 1500s auttyr, 1500s hawter, 1500s nater, 1500s owtter; Scottish pre-1700 autar, pre-1700 auter, pre-1700 autere, pre-1700 awtar, pre-1700 awtare, pre-1700 awter, pre-1700 awtere, pre-1700 awtyr.

γ. Middle English aucter, Middle English auctir, Middle English auȝter, Middle English auȝtres (plural), Middle English auhteer, Middle English–1500s aughter.

δ. Middle English autier, Middle English autiere, Middle English awtier, Middle English awtiere, Middle English awtyer.

ε. Middle English aulteer, Middle English awllter, Middle English awltr, Middle English–1500s aultere, Middle English–1500s awlter, Middle English–1600s aultar, Middle English–1600s aultare, Middle English–1600s aulter, 1500s aultir, 1500s aultor; Scottish pre-1700 aultar, pre-1700 aulter, pre-1700 awlter.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from French. Etymons: Latin altāre; French alter.

Etymology: Originally < classical Latin altāre (see below); subsequently reinforced by Anglo-Norman autere , Anglo-Norman and Old French alter, auter, Anglo-Norman and Middle French aultier (Anglo-Norman altel , Middle French aultel , Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French autel ) raised structure used as focus of worship in a Christian church (c1100), a similar structure used in Israelite and Jewish worship (especially in the Old Testament) (first half of the 12th cent.), a similar structure placed before the image of a saint in a Christian church (a1307) < classical Latin altāre (plural altāria) raised structure on which to place or sacrifice offerings to a god, such offerings, in post-classical Latin also such a structure as used in Israelite and Jewish worship (Vetus Latina, Vulgate), such a structure in a Christian church (late 2nd or early 3rd cent. in Tertullian), use as noun of an unattested adjective < the base of adolere to burn, cremate (see adolent adj.) + -āris -ar suffix¹. Compare Old Occitan altar, autar (12th cent.), Catalan altar (14th cent.), Spanish altar (beginning of the 13th cent.), Portuguese altar (13th cent.), Italian altare (beginning of the 14th cent.), also Old Frisian altare, altere, altār, etc., Old Saxon altari (Middle Low German altār, altar, olter, etc.), Old High German altāri (Middle High German altāre, alter, German Altar), Old Icelandic altari, altara, Old Swedish, Swedish altare, Old Danish altæræ (Danish alter), and further Old Welsh altaur (9th cent.; Welsh allor), Early Irish, Irish altóir.In classical Latin the plural form altāria is attested earlier and more frequently, with both singular and plural meaning. Singular forms are attested as follows: classical Latin altāre (1st cent. a.d.), altārium (2nd cent. a.d.), post-classical Latin altar (beginning of the 5th cent.), altaris (6th cent.). In classical Latin the word altāria was associated by popular etymology with altus ‘high’ since altars were often set in high places. In Old English two separate borrowings of the Latin word can be traced: an earlier disyllabic one (alter ), showing reduction of the unstressed second syllable, and a later trisyllabic one (altare ), preserving the ending and the quality of the medial syllable of the Latin; the word (in both forms) is apparently usually a strong masculine (it is also occasionally attested with neuter agreement and (in the syncopated inflected form altre ) with feminine agreement). In Old English the more usual word for ‘altar’ (even when translating Latin) is wēofod weved n.; compare the variation illustrated in quots. eOE, OE at sense 1. Forms with initial n- show metanalysis (see N n.). In sense 4 after classical Latin āra altar, used as the name of the constellation (see Ara n.).

1. A block, table, stand, or other raised structure with a flat top used as the focus for a religious ritual, especially for making sacrifices or offerings to a god or gods.In earliest use with reference to Israelite and Jewish practice (esp. in the Old Testament); later examples in non-Christian contexts may be extended from sense 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun]

altareOE

wevedc897

ariel1382

aire1581

focus1638

thysiastery1657

eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxiii. 217 Forðæm wæs suiðe ryhtlice beboden Ezechiele ðæm witgan ðæt he scolde ðone Godes alter habban uppan aholodne ðæt he meahte on healdan ða offrunga & ða lac ðe mon brohte to ðæm weobude.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 24 Eornostlice gyf þu bringst þine lac to weofode & þu þær geþencgst þæt ðin broðor hæfð ænig þing agen ðe, læt þær þine lac beforan þam altare [OE Lindisf. wigbed, c1200 Hatton weofede; L. altare] & gang ær & gesybsuma wið þinne broðer.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) 14667 Tacc ysaac þin wennchell & sniþ itt alls itt wære an shep, & leȝȝ itt upp onn allterr, & brenn itt all till asskess.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 135 (MED) Ðe holi man sah þe heg engel atte alteres ende.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1325 Ysaac was leid ðat auter on.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 4709 In Phebus temple..From under thalter sodeinly An hidous Serpent openly Cam out.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 10 Þere is an awtier vpon his [sc. Aristotle's] toumbe.

?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 168 And þer mary offeryth ffowlys on to þe Autere.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Exod. xxxviii. 1 The altare of burnt offrynges.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Macc. iv. 49 The aulter of incense.

1611 Bible (King James) Gen. viii. 20 And Noah builded an Altar vnto the Lord.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 323 So many grateful Altars I would reare Of grassie Terfe.

1712 J. Weaver Hist. Dancing 12 The Prosodion, or Litany, or Supplication, was said with a Hymn, when they approach'd towards the Gods, and brought the Sacrifices to the Altar.

1772 T. Pennant Tours Scotl. (1774) 180 An altar for sacrifices to the immortal gods.

1821 Ld. Byron Cain iii. i, in Sardanapalus 425 I will build no more altars.

1859 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Aeneid vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. II. 215 Where, unctuous and appeaseable, The altar of Diana [stands].

1932 H. V. Morton In Search of Wales vi. 91 [They] imbrued their altars with the blood of their prisoners, and in the entrails of men explored the will of the gods.

2000 D. Lowry Moving toward Stillness xvi. 67 The huge arrays of plants and blossoms that were used in temples [in Japan] to decorate the altars.

2. Christian Church.

a. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches: the raised flat-topped structure or table, typically placed at the eastern end of the church in the sanctuary, on which the Eucharist is celebrated as a sacrifice during Mass.Sometimes also: a temporary or portable slab, table, etc., consecrated for this purpose (cf. superaltar n., altar stone n. 2).It was long customary to have only one altar in a church, but as chapels proliferated and the custom of saying private Masses caused other altars to be added (see sense 2b) the original or chief one became known as the high altar: see high altar n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] > communion table

altarOE

God's boarda1200

boardc1200

communion table1549

table1550

communion board1553

altela1555

OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) lviii. 101 Sona swa he þæt gewrit uppan þone altare alecge, beginne þis fers.

OE Rec. Gifts of Bp. Leofric to Exeter Cathedral (Bodl.) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 226 He hæfð þider ynn gedon ii biscoproda..& ii mycele Cristes bec gebonede & iii gebonede scrin & i geboned altare & v silfrene caliceas.

c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 49 He schel honden helde weter Þat serueþ to þe autere.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 75 A gret awteer of a faire chirche.

a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 381 (MED) I in þe sacrament Of þe auter fully bileue.

a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 261 The body of Crist liyng vpon the awter.

c1531 Praier of Ploweman sig. Bviij Prestes to offren in the auter thy flesshe & thy blode.

1608 J. Panke Fal of Babel 28 The blessed chalice of the aultar..hath the verie sacrifical blood in it that was shed vpon the Crosse.

1692 J. Washington tr. J. Milton Def. People Eng. ii. 51 He compelled them to set up Altars, which all Protestants abhor.

1716 T. Ward England's Reformation iv. 397 ‘I take 'em to prevent abuses,’ Cants he, and then the Crucifix And Chalice from the Altar clicks.

1737 R. Challoner Catholick Christian Instructed v. 66 After the Communion of the Priest in the Mass, such of the People as are to communicate go up to the Rail before the Altar.

1867 Once a Week 22 June 726/1 Next day Katinka and Feodore kneeled together at the altar of the Orthodox Church of Russia as man and wife.

1884 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. 331 The Host after High Mass..is placed on a throne above the altar.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses 81 He saw the priest bend down and kiss the altar.

1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate v. 141 Freddy had stood in the doorway of the dark Orthodox chapel..regarding the heavy-laden altar.

1991 S. Hill Air & Angels iii. 20 The Verger was lifting the taper to light the candles on either side of the altar.

2010 Tablet 27 Mar. 15/1 Guerrillas stormed Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, [and] desecrated the host, the altar and the building.

b. A similar structure placed before a shrine or sacred image, or in a private or side chapel, etc.Often with distinguishing word or phrase. Cf. Lady Altar n. at lady n. Compounds 2a, side altar n. at side n.¹ Compounds 1a(b), etc.

ΚΠ

1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 74 (MED) To fynden a Preste to syngen atte autere of Seint George.

c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 150 At seynt Benetes auter in þe moder cherche.

1444 Will in Publ. Somerset Rec. Soc. (1903) 19 340 (MED) My body to be buried in the church of S. Peter the Apostle..before the altar of St. Mary.

1534 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) 27 The rentally belonging to the Chantry att the Altar of St. John.

1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 291/2 He tooke his personall othe before the Aultar of Saint Peter at Westmister, to defende holy Church.

1635 P. Harris Exile Exiled vii. 48 Hee presents himselfe..before the Altar of the two Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul.

1723 J. Dart Westmonasterium I. 40 In this Chapel was an Altar dedicated to St. Andrew, at which whoever heard Mass, had an Indulgence for two Years.

1756 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. I. 413 Another altar exhibits the virgin Mary in the clouds.

1824 R. B. Anderdon Prac. Treat. Duties Churchwardens 6 A little chapel or particular altar..endowed..for the maintenance of a priest, to pray for the souls of the founder and his friends.

1908 Athenæum 12 Sept. 298/1 No relic was necessary for a side altar or one of occasional use.

2009 Ireland's Eye Jan. 23/3 The only other light came from the candles at Our Lady's altar and the corresponding Sacred Heart altar.

c. In the Church of England and some other Protestant churches: the table on which the communion bread and wine are blessed; the holy or communion table (cf. table n. 7a).In the first Book of Common Prayer of Edward VI (quot. 1549) the word altar occurs side by side with ‘God's board, Lord's table, Holy table’, the two latter of which at length displaced it in authoritative use (except in the Coronation Service). Later in the 16th and during the 17th cent. the word was the subject of controversy and frequently avoided, with communion table, holy table, etc., being preferred as connoting an act of commemoration rather than a sacrifice. In more recent times (esp. since the Anglo-Catholic liturgical revival of the 19th cent.) the terms are often used interchangeably, although one or the other is sometimes preferred according to the doctrine of the Eucharist held or being emphasized by the speaker.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] > communion table > in reformed churches

Lord's Table1533

altar1549

oyster board1563

1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Svpper of the Lorde f. cxxviii^v These wordes before rehersed are to be saied, turning still to the Altar, without any eleuacion, or shewing the Sacrament to the people.

1625 W. Laud Diary in Wks. (1853) III. 181 I returned and offered them [sc. the regalia] solemnly at the altar in the name of the king.

a1638 J. Mede Wks. (1672) ii. 386 (marg. title) Of the name Altar anciently given to the Holy Table.

1660 E. Stillingfleet Irenicum i. ii. 66 The Altar (as they Metaphorically called the communion table).

1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 74 Those Disputes brought in new words, and terms (Altar, Adoration, and Genuflexion, and other expressions).

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1763 I. 257 We went and looked at the church..and walked up to the altar.

1831 Form & Order Service Coronation William IV 34 Then the Archbishop takes the Sword from off the Altar, and..saith: Receive this Kingly Sword, brought now from the Altar of God.

1883 Daily News 27 Mar. 7/2 Disturbing the congregation of St. Paul's Cathedral..[and] breaking certain ornaments on the altar.

1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage viii. 29 Josiah Graves that morning had objected strongly to some candlesticks with which the Vicar had adorned the altar... [saying] they were popish.

1979 H. W. Turner From Temple to Meeting House xi. 214 Luther's conservatism made him content to leave the altar against the east wall.

2005 E. A. Livingstone Oxf. Dict. Christian Church (rev. ed.) at Crucifix In the C of E a crucifix was occasionally used on the altar after the Reformation.

d. In allusive use. This structure, or the area around it, as the place at which the marriage service is conducted. Frequently in to lead (a person, typically a woman) to the altar: to marry the person specified.

ΚΠ

1653 Duchess of Newcastle Poems & Fancies 159 To the Altar this faire Bride was led.

1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 191 I was Father at the Altar..and gave her away.

1766 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 106 Thus was she led..to the altar.

1820 W. Combe Second Tour Dr. Syntax xxxii. 250 The indissoluble tie Which hallow'd Altars sanctify.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Lord of Burleigh in Poems (new ed.) II. 201 Leads her to the village altar.

1932 L. E. Lawes 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1942) vii. 253 He had married, not wisely, but often. Four trusting damsels he had led to the altar.

1961 J. Carew Last Barbarian 195 The trouble you'll have to go to before he walks you to the altar won't be worth it.

1997 Independent 16 Aug. i. 2/1 The multi-million pound lawsuit filed by Ms Fisher, who says she was ‘left at the altar’.

2009 Daily Tel. 13 May 24/1 Most modern lovebirds step to the altar from fully furnished homes, with all mod cons.

e. In the Eastern Orthodox Church: the place in which the holy table is situated, including the area behind the iconostasis and the area directly in front; the sanctuary.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > sanctuary or holy place > [noun]

holinessc897

houseeOE

halidomc1000

ZionOE

God's houseOE

wike-tuna1250

saintuairea1300

sanctuarya1340

holy1382

entry?c1400

the Holy (Saint) Sepulchre (occasionally the Sepulchre)c1400

high placea1425

place of worship?1459

synagogue1490

God-box?1548

shrinea1577

bethela1617

prayer house1657

barn1689

bidental1692

altar1772

praying housea1843

1772 J. G. King Rites Greek Church in Russia 54 The elements for the Communion are carried..into the altar, at the royal doors, to be set upon the holy table.

1815 R. Pinkerton tr. Metropolitan Platon Present State Greek Church in Russia 18 In the middle of the altar stands the Holy Table, upon which..a richly-ornamented copy of the Gospels are always laid.

1872 O. Optic Northern Lands x. 195 After the service some of the students were permitted to enter the altar.

1912 G. Harford et al. Prayer Bk. Dict. 447/2 In the East at the present day the word used is Holy Table and the place whereon it stands is called the Altar.

1985 P. Lazor tr. N. Uspensky Evening Worship in Orthodox Church 55 The entry of the clergy into the altar.

2008 Stamford (Connecticut) Advocate (Nexis) 3 Nov. As part of the ceremony, the relics of saints are permanently sealed in a special gold box in the altar's Holy Table.

3. figurative and in extended use. A material or immaterial thing viewed as or likened to an altar, esp. in being dedicated to or used in some sacrifice, ritual, or devotion.See also to sacrifice (a person or thing) at (also on) the altar of at Phrases 1.

ΚΠ

a1450 (?1419–20) Friar Daw's Reply (Digby) l. 26 in P. L. Heyworth Jack Upland (1968) 73 Datan & Abiron..Wiþ newe senceres ensencen þe auters of synne.

1554 Bp. T. Watson Twoo Notable Serm. ii. sig. Rviii Euerye Christen manne and womanne..vpon the aultare of hys owne hearte oughte to offre Christe too the father.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) i. sig. Ii^v Where thoughts be the temple, sighte is a aultar.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) v. i. 111 You vnciuill Ladie To whose ingrate, and vnauspicious Altars My soule the faithfull'st offrings haue breath'd out.

1688 T. Brown Reasons Mr. Bays Preface sig. A2 This Modern Ceremony of offering up one Author at the Altar of another, is likely to advance into a fashion.

1712 A. Pope Rape of Lock i, in Misc. Poems 360 On shining Altars of Japan they raise The silver Lamp [sc. coffee pot]..From silver Spouts the grateful Liquors glide.

1767 W. Mason in Corr. T. Gray & W. Mason (1853) 401 I will sacrifice the first stanza on your critical altar.

1775 E. Burke Speech Resol. for Concil. Colonies 43 The stones which construct the sacred altar of peace.

1814 Sporting Mag. 43 267 Have not Philosophers, Stoicians,..and Rhetoricians Left sense's cold, insipid shrine To bend 'fore Altars feminine?

1857 C. Heavysege Saul 275 The stars shall sooner fall Each from its sacred altar in the heavens.

1931 J. Drury Dining in Chicago 242 A Sun-Dodger is a person who worships at the altar of Jazz.

2010 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 24 June 8/3 A likable, shy young man happiest before the altar of his Playstation.

4. Astronomy. With the and capital initial. (The English name of) the southern constellation Ara.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > constellation > Southern constellations > [noun] > Ara

altar1556

1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 270 Vnder the Scorpions tayle, standeth the Altar.

1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) sig. QQ.ii^v Here mayst thou both the Altar, and the myghty Cup beholde.

1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. vi. 95 The Centaur holds the Wolf by'th heel, The Altar, and Ixion's Wheel, Are never seen of us; but here The Southern Fish brings up the rear.

1744 Philos. Trans. 1740–41 (Royal Soc.) 41 743 The middle Way is best. Nor where in radiant Folds the Serpent twines Direct your Course, nor where the Altar shines.

1868 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin Heavens (ed. 3) 334 The Altar and the Southern Triangle..bring us back to Argo.

1928 Sci. News Let. 22 Dec. 325/1 This nucleus is in the same direction as the constellations of..the Southern Crown, the Altar, the Rule, and the Centaur.

2004 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 1 Sept. 3 A European team found an ‘exoplanet’ orbiting the star mu Arae in the southern constellation of the Altar, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.

5. A poem, text, or dedication written or printed in the form of an altar. Now archaic and historical.Cf. pyramid n. 5 (note), wing n. 1d (quot. 1633).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > types of poem according to form > [noun] > concrete poetry > types of concrete poem

pyramid1589

triquet1589

altar1633

1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 18 A broken altar, Lord, thy servant reares, Made of a heart, and cemented with teares.

a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 120 As for Altars and Pyramids in Poetry, he has outdone all Men.

1682 J. Dryden Mac Flecknoe 13 Some peaceful Province in Acrostick Land. There thou mayst Wings display, and Alters raise.

1691 T. Brown Congratulatory Poem 5 To Providence and Thee we still shall raise Altars for Thanks, and Pyramids for Praise.

1712 J. Addison Spectator (1786) No. 416. 832/1 False wit; whether it consists in the affinity of letters;..or of a whole sentence or poem, as wings and altars.

1791 Crit. Rev. Nov. 296 Nor are the acrostics, the gryphi, the wings and altars, forgotten.

1867 Galaxy June 174 The ‘Altars’ of Dosiadas are made of verses of unequal length, giving the desired form.

1946 PMLA 61 639 An altar ascribed to Theocritus or Simius Rhodius.

1995 A. Fowler in H. Erskine-Hill & R. A. McCabe Presenting Poetry i. ii. 49 Davison's 20-line altar, with its probable allusion to the twenty of woe.

6. Shipbuilding. Each of the steps or ledges up the sloping sides of a dry or graving dock. Now chiefly historical.Suggested by altar step n. at Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > shipyard or boat-yard > [noun] > dockyard > dry dock > ledge on side of

altar1807

1807 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 18 129 His head came in contact with a sort of step, of which there are several projecting from the sides of a dock, and are, I believe, technically called Altars.

1840 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 3 27/2 The object of these altars is for the convenience of placing the shores against the hull of a vessel at any height, and for resting the ends of spars for staging.

1885 L. F. Vernon-Harcourt Harbours & Docks I. 457 The sides of a graving dock..are constructed with steps, or altars, for receiving the timber props which support the vessel in an upright position.

1910 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 363/2 The vessel is further supported on each side by timber shores supported on the steps or ‘altars’ of the side walls.

1990 P. M. Becht & J. R. Hetherman in J. Gaythwaite Design Marine Facilities x. 425 Originally docks were designed with sloping walls having many offsets called altars.

Phrases

P1. to sacrifice (a person or thing) at (also on) the altar of: to sacrifice, give up, or make (a person or thing) suffer in the interests of or to attain the thing specified.

ΚΠ

1770 Gentleman's & London Mag. Apr. 208/1 I..exhorted the advocates for that expulsion, to sacrifice a private resentment..at the altar of public tranquillity.

1847 Med. Times 16 434/3 The public benefit is sacrificed at the altar of personal ambition.

1993 J. K. Hall tr. T. Terzani Goodnight, Mister Lenin (1994) viii. 123 In 1933 there were little more than three million [Kazakh people]. The others had been sacrificed on the altar of collectivization.

2007 Guardian 22 Mar. (Technology section) 3/5 A new cinema..where narrative drive is sacrificed at the altar of fetishised hyperviolence.

P2.

altar of repose n. the altar where the Sacred Host, consecrated in the Mass on Holy Thursday, is reserved until the following day.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] > to which sacrament is removed

sepulture1485

sepulchre1737

altar of repose1849

1849 Rambler Apr. 556/1 When the ‘altar of repose’ (called also the ‘sepulchre’) is reached, the Bishop deposits his precious charge upon the throne of estate.

1976 N. Roberts Face of France vii. 82 The procession to the Altar of Repose, when the Tantum Ergo comes rolling out in Gregorian and sonorous Latin.

2011 Falmouth Packet (Nexis) 29 Mar. Solemn eucharist of the Lord's supper with the Mandatum, procession to the Altar of Repose, Stripping of Altars and the Watch of Prayer to 10pm.

Compounds

C1.

a. General attributive. Of, belonging to, connected with, or used on an altar, as altar book, altar candle, altar pile, altar side, altar top, altar towel, etc.See also Compounds 2, and altar cloth n., altarpiece n., altar stone n., etc.

ΚΠ

1549 in H. J. Feasey Anc. Eng. Holy Week Ceremonial (1897) 21 Dyuerse other thinges as Towelles, Aulter Cortyns [etc.].

1590 T. Fenne Hecubaes Mishaps in Frutes sig. Ee3^v I drew him to the altar side.

1618 ( Inventory in E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. (1866) 182 Syx alter towelles of lynnen cloth.

1642 H. Parker Altar Dispute iii. 36 If..the Altar wall were againe removed,..the Altar would be seene standing in the very middle of the Quire.

1649 J. Lightfoot Temple Service ix. 104 Going to the Altar top, he scrapes the coals this way, and that way.

a1654 A. Ross Πανσεβεια (1655) xiii. 450 Wash also the Altar linnen.

1716 M. Davies Athenæ Britannicæ II. 381 Church-Ornaments, Priest-Vestments, Altar-Garments, or such like Fundamental Articles of Papism.

1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. (ed. 2) III. lxii. 40 A set of altar furniture of amber.

1816 Ld. Byron Darkness 58 The dying embers of an altar-place.

1832 R. Montgomery Messiah i. 10 Then Isaac, when the stony altar-pile..Was founded..cried,—‘My father!’

1860 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 6 The Altar-tapers flar'd in gusts.

1865 F. G. Lee Purchas's Directorium Anglicanum (ed. 2) 5 (note) Where no Altar-cross has been provided..a metal Cross..is to be preferred to an embroidered one.

1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 34 From the altar-top Strewing her golden hair with ashes hoar.

1934 T. S. Eliot Rock ii. 74 The Crowd enter with altar-books.

1999 Fortean Times Feb. 7/2 When he opened the church door, he was nearly brained by a flying altar candle.

b. Objective with agent and verbal nouns, as altar adorer, altar builder, altar building, altar burning, altar maker, altar smasher, etc.From the Reformation to the 19th cent. often denoting persons or practices regarded as tending towards Roman Catholicism, or actions intended to counter or eradicate these.

ΚΠ

?a1325 ( in H. T. Riley Munimenta Gildhallæ Londoniensis (1860) II. 107 (MED) Thomam Torgot, autermakere.

1629 W. Prynne Church of Englands Old Antithesis Ep. Ded. sig. ¶4^v Altar-adorations, (complained of not long since in Parliament).

1637 W. Prynne Quench-coale ii. 274 If our Altar-worshippers will presse or imitate his example, then they must bow and worship towards our Churches-steeples.

1641 in J. Rushworth Hist. Coll.: Third Pt. (1692) I. 553 A notable Arminian and an Altar-adorer.

?1705 E. Hickeringill Vindic. Char. Priest-craft 22 Cold Formality, and Altar-Worship.

1728 W. Asplin Alkibla 17 That general Rule for Altar-Building..a Necessity for placing all the Altars of the Gods towards the East.

1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus iii. iii. 78/2 Were this an altar-building time.

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. v. vii. 337 Gun-boring, Altar-burning, Saltpetre-digging, and miraculous improvements in Tannery.

1869 J. B. Rose Two Hist. Tracts 12 The Calvinist and the friend of Knox and the altar destroyers.

1874 Evangelical Repository June 298 These devout altar-builders to the Unknown God.

1914 Philistine May 107 Diary of an altar wrecker.

1997 A. Jacobs tr. D. Colas Civil Soc. & Fanaticism 114 Luther opposed the same argument..against all image and altar smashers.

2006 T. A. Tweed Crossing & Dwelling (2008) iv. 107 Catholic altar makers in rural Mexico have constructed sacred spaces in their one-room dwellings.

c. Instrumental and locative, as altar-plighted, altar-vowed, etc. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1747 S. Richardson Clarissa II. xii. 64 Some new breach of an Altar-vow'd duty.

1843 Proc. Gen. Anti-slavery Convent. 163 An altar-pledged hostility to slavery.

1901 Cent. Mag. Feb. 540 Hand in hand, with a radiant smile, Altar-plighted,..Treading a rose-embroidered aisle.

1953 New World Writing 4 198 Mrs Lowry considered following him..and bringing him back to face his altar-sworn responsibilities.

C2.

altar board n. †(a) = altar table n.; cf. communion board n. at communion n. Compounds 2 (obsolete); (b) (in the Coptic Church) a removable oblong board, typically decorated with a cross, which is set into an altar and on which the consecration of the host takes place.

ΚΠ

c1480 (a1400) St. Juliana l. 102 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 427 Quhar tretyt is þe sacrament of godis body at altare burd.

1637 W. Prynne Quench-coale 117 S. Augustine sayth, that in his time in Africa they were made of wood. For the Donatists, sayth he, breake in sunder the Altar-boords.

1798 tr. W. Oppenheim Geogr. & Statist. Acct. Cisalpine Republic 183 The altar-board consists of a plate of red Veronese marble, six feet in breadth.

1848 W. J. Blew Ecclesia Dei 28 A lordly Bishop..Deeming its [sc. the Cross's] presence on the altar-board..A thing to be avoided and abhorr'd!

1992 N. El-Agamy tr. T. Y. Malaty Dict. Church Terms 9 When necessary, the Eucharist may take place at any place as long as there is an Altar Board.

altar boy n. (originally and esp. in the Roman Catholic Church) a boy who acts as a priest's assistant during a service.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > person in minor orders > acolyte > [noun] > serving mass

server1620

altar boy1772

1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund I. 150 Idiots who are not fit to be made altar-boys [Sp. monacillos].

1890 Cent. Mag. Jan. 400/1 The priest is accompanied by the altar-boy.

1976 Ebony Nov. 75/1 At Martin Temple..Zion Church..red-and-white-robed members of the choir... are followed by two altar boys and their pastor.

2008 J. Quinn Goodnight Ballivor xvi. 83 When all had paid, the altar boys gathered the four corners of the tablecloth and made off with ‘the take’ to the sacristy.

altar bread n. the bread or wafer used in the Eucharist.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > consumables > eucharistic elements > bread > [noun]

fleshc1000

ofleteOE

mannaa1200

breada1225

bread of lifea1300

host1303

bodya1325

obleya1325

God's bodya1387

cakec1390

singing bread1432

bread of wheata1450

singing loaf1530

God's bread1535

bread god?1548

round robin?1548

holy bread1552

singing cake1553

Jack-in-the-box1554

wafer-cake?1554

wafer1559

wafer-bread1565

breaden god1570

mass cake1579

wafer-god1623

hostel1624

maker1635

hostie1641

oblata1721

altar bread1839

prosphora1874

1839 Catholic Directory 189 (advt.) Altar Breads and cards supplied.

1849 D. Rock Church our Fathers I. ii. 144 [In East Syria] the altar bread was unleavened, the..ceremonies were imported from the Western rite.

1961 D. Attwater Christian Churches of East I. 224 The Byzantine altar-bread..[is] like a small loaf or cake.

2006 D. Angel-Bridge Full Circle 248 Pictures of a priest holding out a piece of altar bread towards a kneeling couple.

altar call n. U.S. an appeal made during a Christian worship service (esp. an evangelical one) inviting congregants to approach the preacher to make a public expression of their faith or participate in spiritual healing through prayer; cf. altar service n. 4.

ΚΠ

1896 Des Moines (Iowa) Daily News 10 Jan. 4/2 When he [sc. evangelist Hugh Smith] made the altar call he appealed directly to all who wanted pardon and purity to signify by lifting the hand or rising.

1935 N. L. McClung Clearing in West iii. 20 We were late for the meeting and the altar call was sounding when we entered, and crowds of people were pressing forward.

1992 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. 3 Oct. e6/2 Traditional black worship style, marked by emotional sermons, shouts of ‘amen,’ altar calls and testimonies, grew out of the experience of slaves.

2011 Church Times 16 Dec. 18/1 There was more singing, and then the minister preached... Then there was the altar call, followed by yet more singing, prayers, and a final benediction.

altar card n. any of a set of cards (typically three) placed on the altar and containing parts of the Eucharistic prayers to assist the priest's memory.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] > communion table > card placed on

altar card1768

1768 Laity's Direct. 24 (advt) Lately printed on a fine Writing Paper, Altar Cards of Different Sizes.

1849 T. Grant Let. 4 July in ‘G. Ramsay’ Thomas Grant (1874) v. 85 A subscription for publishing on stone a set of illuminated altar cards.

1884 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. at Altar Under the crucifix there ought to be an altar-card, with certain prayers which the priest cannot read from the Missal without inconvenience.

2009 Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota) (Nexis) 29 Sept. I've served Mass from the days when everything was in Latin (with altar cards..to help).

altar cavity n. a small chamber in the body of an altar, esp. (chiefly Roman Catholic Church) one in which holy relics are placed when the alter is consecrated; cf. sepulchre n. Additions.Also called sepulchrum (see sepulchrum n.).

ΚΠ

1884 A. J. Butler Anc. Coptic Churches Egypt II. i. 14 The chief if not the sole use of the altar-cavity among the Copts is on Good Friday, when a picture of the cross is buried in rose leaves within it, to be uncovered on Easter morning.

1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 761/2 In the Roman Catholic Church,..the component parts of a fixed altar in the liturgical sense are the table (mensa);..the support (stipes);..the sepulchrum, or altar-cavity, a small chamber for the reception of the relics of martyrs.

1961 L. Eisenhofer & J. Lechner Liturgy Rom. Rite v. i. 120 The altar-cavity (sepulchrum) containing the relics of saints and closed with a stone.

2010 Z. Bartels Last Con xiii. 81 I need you to access the altar cavity and tell me what's inside. Keep your eyes open for surprises.

altar facing n. = altar front n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > cloths, carpets, cushions > cloth (general) > altar cloth > [noun] > at front

hatchOE

frontal1381

pall?a1475

antepend1501

pendle1501

stole1513

suffront1516

altar cloth1522

front1533

altar front1539

antependium1594

fronton1749

altar frontal1836

altar facing1856

1856 Fraser's Mag. Nov. 566/2 One of the many emeralds..of which the entire surface of the..altar facings..is composed in St. Andrea della Valle.

1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 308 These altar-facings were moveable.

1992 Canada NewsWire (Nexis) 21 Jan. From 1820 to 1850, artistic endeavour became greatly diversified, giving rise to..portraits, landscapes, religious scenes, copies and pastiches, altar facings,..etc.

altar fire n. (a) the fire on an altar; (b) (figurative) religious spirit or rite.

ΚΠ

1632 J. Vicars tr. Virgil XII Aeneids ii. 38 Our countrey Gods, holy headbands, And altar-fire he put into my hands [L. effert penetralibus ignem].

1696 J. Lead Fountain of Gardens sig. P3 Your charge is only to attend this Altar-Fire, and the pure Celestial Oyl, that is the Freewill, which the holy flaming Body doth subsist of.

1703 Universal Dict. at Lemuria Holidays kept by the Old Romans, to the Lemures or Ghosts:..they threw Beans on the Altar fire, to drive them out of their Houses.

1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xl. 62 Mounts the heavenward altar-fire .

2002 N. Drury Dict. Esoteric 134/2 The Haruspex..interpreted the movements of the flames in the altar-fire during ritual sacrifice.

altar front n. a hanging or panel, often decorative, covering the front face of the altar; = antependium n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > cloths, carpets, cushions > cloth (general) > altar cloth > [noun] > at front

hatchOE

frontal1381

pall?a1475

antepend1501

pendle1501

stole1513

suffront1516

altar cloth1522

front1533

altar front1539

antependium1594

fronton1749

altar frontal1836

altar facing1856

1539 Inventory Cathedral Ely 20 Nov. in Gentleman's Mag. (1783) June 483/2 An altar front of rede counterfete bawdkyn.

1566 in E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. (1866) 56 Item an altar ffront sold to Sir Richard thoryld.

1749 Universal Mag. Aug. 72/1 Seventeen Antependiums, or altar-fronts of the same metal and workmanship [as the pulpits].

1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands iii. 80 A beautiful silver altar-front.

1979 J. F. Butler Christianity Asia & Amer. 31 The double-headed eagle on the altar front refers to the Augustinian see of Mylapore.

2000 Victorian Mar. 13/1 A canon table in The Book of Kells could have been the inspiration for the altar front, with spandrels containing the winged emblems of the four Evangelists.

altar frontal n. = altar front n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > cloths, carpets, cushions > cloth (general) > altar cloth > [noun] > at front

hatchOE

frontal1381

pall?a1475

antepend1501

pendle1501

stole1513

suffront1516

altar cloth1522

front1533

altar front1539

antependium1594

fronton1749

altar frontal1836

altar facing1856

1836 Dublin Rev. May 174 There were nine altar frontals of cloth of gold, embroidered, one with the twelve apostles.

1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 308 A more important class of panel picture—viz. the altar-frontals or antependia.

1919 Brooklyn Mus. Q. 6 184 Middle section of Altar frontal. Needlepoint... Eagle is central figure.

2003 National Art Coll. Fund Rev. 2002 129/2 A 15th-century German altar frontal depicting the Crucifixion.

altar girl n. (originally and esp. in the Roman Catholic Church) a girl who tends an altar, esp. one who acts as a priest's assistant during a service; cf. altar boy n.

ΚΠ

1905 Our Paper 14 Oct. 649/3 In the darkness of the church [in Prague], notwithstanding the candles,..I was not certain whether they were altar boys or altar girls.

1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Altar girl, a girl acting as a lay assistant in church services.

1985 Cincinnati Mag. Dec. 17/1 I knew that altar girls were uncommon in suburban Cincinnati, especially in the little parish where I had grown up.

2002 T. Hartman Halbertal Appropriately Subversive ii. 42 My daughter decided to become an altar girl.

† altar god n. Obsolete rare (in depreciative use) the Eucharist characterized as a false idol.

ΚΠ

?1554 tr. H. Latimer Protestation in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) III. App. 93 That their white Idoll, I shulde haue said their Alter God, hathe.

altar plate n. (as a mass noun) the plates, cups, and other vessels and utensils, typically of precious metal, used in the communion rite; (as a count noun) one of these, esp. a communion plate.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > implement (general) > vessel (general) > paten > [noun]

patenlOE

platena1450

patel1548

bread plate1608

bread bowl1638

altar plate1647

patera1658

offertory1672

patina1868

1647 Perfect Occurr. Parl. No. 6. 42 That the Kings Plate (called Altar-Plate) be melted, and made into Boules, for His Majesty to drinke in.

1798 W. Oppenheim tr. Geogr. & Statist. Acct. Cisalpine Republic 415 In the church St. Proculo is a very fine big altar-plate of verde antico, sixteen spans long.

1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. III. ii. xiii. 99 The desecration of the abbey-chapels and altar-plate.

1964 B. Millett Irish Franciscans i. iv. 84 The soldiers..[had] desecrated the tombs in the church in the belief that the altar-plate had been hidden in them.

2003 National Art Coll. Fund Rev. 2002 113/2 This bejewelled altar plate forms part of the furnishings of the chapel at Tyntesfield.

altar pyx n. a box in which the consecrated bread of the Eucharist is kept on the altar (cf. pyx n.¹ 1).

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > implement (general) > vessel (general) > pyx > [noun]

boxc1325

pyx?a1425

sacrament-boxc1440

custode1510

Eucharist1535

pyxis1536

little Jack1566

altar pyx1605

chrismal1845

Eucharistial1845

custodial1861

1605–6 Act 3 Jas. I c. 5 §15 in Statutes of Realm (1819) IV. ii. 1082 Any Altar Pix Beades Pictures or suche like Popish Reliques.

1681 J. Oldham Satyrs upon Jesuits 84 Yon Altar-Pix of Gold is the Abode And safe Repository of their God.

1888 W. Scott tr. C. Boito Basilica S. Mark ii. viii. 248 The first place among the architectural works,..is held by the Altar-pyxes, invariably formed of four monolith arcades.

1990 D. Easterman Brotherhood of Tomb iv. 42 Above the altar pyx, someone had scrawled a message in large black letters.

altar rail n. (frequently in plural) a rail separating the sanctuary from the main body of the church, behind which Communion is typically received.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar rail > [noun] > altar rails

altar rail1641

1641 R. Dey Two Looks over Lincolne 3 The Bishop of Lincolnes Crosier, that Episcopall instrument made of an Altar-raile.

1642 J. Vicars God in Mount 23 The souldiers..pulling-down altar-rails, turning altars into Communion-Table postures [etc.]

1757 J. Prinsep Let. 30 Aug. in T. Secker Corr. (1991) 280 An Estement for Painting & ornamenting the Chancell..The altar Rail [etc.].

1861 W. G. Clark in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 53 An aged priest, standing within the altar rails.

1965 B. Friel Philadelphia, Here I come! 59 Up at the altar rails there's Maire..and you couldn't tell whether she was crying or giggling.

2003 Church Times 12 Dec. 12/3 When the children come to the altar rail for a blessing they are given tea lights which are then lit round the font.

altar screen n. (a) (in the Eastern Orthodox Church) the screen which separates the sanctuary from the main body of the church, typically richly decorated with icons; = iconostasis n.; (b) (in the Western Church) the ornamental screen behind an altar, often having sculpted figures, niches, finials, tabernacles, etc.; = reredos n. 5a.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > screen > [noun]

purpitle1354

screen1587

pulpitum1640

sept1640

cancelli1642

altar screena1691

reredos1745

jube1767

catapetasma1798

rood screen1817

iconostas1833

iconostasis1833

haikal screen1902

choir-screen-

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > parts of altar > [noun] > back

reredos1447

altarpiece1624

altar screena1691

retable1817

superaltar1847

gradin1877

posticum1890

a1691 P. Skippon Acct. Journey Low-Countries in Churchill's Coll. Voy. (1732) VI. 667/2 The Greek priest sat behind the..altar screen.

1768 F. Drake Accurate Descrip. Cathedral York 47 In the Year 1760 Dr. Fountayne, the present worthy Dean, caused the Tapestry to be taken from the Altar-Screen, which is a magnificent Piece of Gotick Architecture.

1838 J. Britton Dict. Archit. & Archæol. 299 The high altar-screen of Durham Cathedral.

1986 Times 24 July 1/3 Bride and groom negotiated the narrow door in the altar screen for the 10-minute signing of the marriage registers.

1999 Independent 8 June i. 14/7 He was visible through the open iconostasis, or altar screen, which in most Orthodox churches hides the priest from view.

altar servant n. a person who serves at an altar; spec. a priest or priest's assistant; cf. altar servant n.

ΚΠ

1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God vii. xx. 281 The altar-seruant, or sacrificer [L. minister ad ara].

1847 Brit. Protestant Dec. 197 The Priest's altar-servant.

1999 M. Metzger Hist. Liturgy vi. 124 The functions of deacon and subdeacon have endured, sometimes those of acolyte (reduced to the role of altar servant).

altar server n. a person who serves at an altar, a priest's assistant; cf. altar servant n., altar service n. 3.

ΚΠ

1826 Polit. Hermit 42 Monasteries were..changed into manufacturies,..and altar-servers into husbandmen.

1920 P. Green Our Kid 7 He takes his turn, one morning a week, as altar-server at church, going in afterwards to the Clergy House to breakfast.

2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 5 Apr. a3/2 The bishop fended off the man..as altar servers and other church workers jumped to his defense.

altar slab n. a slab, typically of marble or stone, forming the top of an altar; an altar stone.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > parts of altar > [noun] > top

altar stonec1350

altar slab1787

mensa1848

1787 County Mag. Apr. 250/3 The altar-slab is of a bright enamel.

1866 E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. 21 The altar-slabs thus used as fire-backs and bridges.

1916 F. Bond Chancel Eng. Churches i. 49 Not all of the altar slabs..were broken up;..some were laid down as pavements of the church.

2010 Cornishman (Nexis) 4 Mar. 25 Celtic missionaries would carry small stone altar slabs.

altar stair n. (as collective singular) a flight of stairs leading up to an altar; (as a count noun, frequently in plural) one of these stairs; also figurative.

ΚΠ

1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 21 Now we stood on the altar stair.

1846 J. Keble Lyra Innocentium 189 Chancel screen and Altar stair.

1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh iv. 164 The topmost altar-stair.

1921 Rotarian Apr. 167 Here is Rotary's throne, the others [sc. other worthy societies] are the mere altar-stairs.

2010 Express (Scottish ed.) (Nexis) 17 Sept. 4 Her mother carried her all the way up the altar stairs.

altarstead n. the place where an altar stands.

ΚΠ

1724 T. Wearing Serm. Opening St. Andrew’s Church Penrith 20 in Two Serm. A private Subject..who vow'd his Threshing-floor for an Altar-stead.

1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise 94 Hung up as relics nigh the altar-stead.

1918 Irish Monthly Mar. 126 The tower arches give the altar-stead a mystic remoteness.

2001 S. C. Karant-Nunn in T. A. Brady & E. Müller-Luckner Die deutsche Reformation 169 Blocking up the old altarstead was an effort to relegate every idolatrous supposition that this site itself held out the divine to believers.

altar step n. a step leading up to an altar; cf. altar stair n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > gradual > [noun]

settle1611

altar step1637

gradual1693

predella1757

solea1858

dais1888

1637 W. Prynne Quench-coale Ep. Ded. 11 He unhappily fell downe against the Altar-steps.

1798 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 835/1 In the South chancel, which belongs to the lord of the manor, the altar-step and piscina.

1846 J. Keble Lyra Innocentium 14 With pure heart to fall Before His Altar-step.

1934 K. O'Brien Ante-room i. vi. 85 A procession of boys poured out from the sacristy and led a gold-coped priest to the altar steps.

2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 5 July 60/3 Under van Gent's painting there was a predella, or decorated altar-step, by Paolo Uccello.

altar table n. a table that is or forms an altar; an altar or altar slab; cf. table n. 7a. [Compare Middle Dutch outaertafel altar top, altar slab (Dutch altaartafel, now also in sense ‘painted altarpiece’), and also Old Frisian altartefle, Middle Low German alt̄artaffel, German Altartafel (14th cent.), all in sense ‘painted altarpiece’. Compare further Middle French, French table d'autel (1472 in sense ‘altar top, altar slab’; earlier denoting a type of decorative cloth apparently for the altar top (1419)).]

ΚΠ

1477 in E. Hobhouse Church-wardens' Accts. (1890) 110 For the caryage of the Altar-table from Wellys ijd.

1566 in E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. (1866) 42 On alter table broken by Mr. Vycar.

1797 E. Hasted Hist. Kent (ed. 2) II. 549 Under an altar table of stone, supported by small pillars, lies the figure of a knight in armour.

1870 Architect 15 Jan. 36/2 The altar table is elevated on a foot-pace of stone richly tiled.

1961 L. Eisenhofer & J. Lechner Liturgy Rom. Rite v. i. 120 The altar-table (mensa)..must be firmly attached to the body [of the altar] and cover its whole surface.

2006 Church Times 5 May 6/2 The altar table, font, and pulpit have all been made from an oak tree that was cut down in the car park.

altar-thegn n. [after Old English wēofod-þegn (compare quot. OE)] historical (with reference to the Anglo-Saxon period) the priest serving at an altar; a mass-priest.Quot. 1720 is a translation of quot. OE.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > kinds of priest > [noun] > celebrating mass

mass-priesteOE

masserOE

priestOE

rood priest1516

massing priest1554

missara1560

sacrificer1563

Christ-maker1571

sacrificule1604

conficient1614

celebrant1624

missalian1624

missalist1624

waiter at the altar1648

altar-thegn1720

president1945

OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. xxxix. 340 Gyf hwa weofodþen [L. altaris ministrum] afylle, sy he utlah wið God & wið men.]

1720 J. Johnson Coll. Eccl. Laws Church of Eng. I. sig. Ee2 If one murder an Altar-Thane, let him be outlaw'd with God and Man.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Altar-thane in our ancient law-books, denotes a priest or parson of a parish.

1850 F. A. Trevelyan Lect. Hist. Eng. I. x. 164 Next to kings, the clergy, who were called mass-priests, or altar-thanes, were most thought of.

1913 S. O. Addy Church & Manor 167 The laws speak of the mass-thane, or altar-thane, and the world-thane, or secular thane.

1962 H. R. Loyn Anglo-Saxon Eng. vi. 245 The mass thegns and altar thegns of the legal codes were men of some standing.

altar tomb n. a solid rectangular raised tomb that resembles an altar in being typically free-standing with a flat table-like top.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > obsequies > monument > [noun] > over tomb > type of

hearse1552

heroon1601

altar tomb1631

turbeh1687

the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > grave or burial-place > types of tomb > [noun] > resembling an altar

altar tomb1631

1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 293 In the same Chappell lyeth Iohn Dering..who was great grandchilde to the foresaid Richard Dering of Surenden, whose Altar tombe is since laid flat.

1739 F. Blomefield Ess. Topogr. Hist. Norfolk I. 227 Under this, is an Altar-Tomb cover'd with a Black Marble.

1769 T. Gray Jrnl. 9 Oct. in Poems (1775) 368 There is an altar-tomb of one of them dated 1577.

a1878 G. G. Scott Lect. Mediæval Archit. (1879) I. 180 The marble altar-tomb of Queen Eleanor.

1999 Oxoniensia 63 79 The monument..consists of an altar-tomb with a Purbeck marble cover-slab.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	altar
释义	altarn. Brit. /ˈɔːltə/, /ˈɒltə/, U.S. /ˈɔltər/, /ˈɑltər/ Forms: α. Old English altr- (inflected form), Old English–1600s altare, Old English–1600s alter, early Middle English allterr ( Ormulum), Middle English–1500s allter, Middle English–1500s altere, Middle English– altar, 1500s alterres (plural), 1500s halter, 1600s alltar; Scottish pre-1700 allter, pre-1700 altair, pre-1700 altare, pre-1700 alteir, pre-1700 alter, pre-1700 altere, pre-1700 halter, pre-1700 1700s– altar. β. Middle English autar, Middle English auteer, Middle English autir, Middle English autorris (plural), Middle English autyr, Middle English autyre, Middle English auuter, Middle English auutere, Middle English avter, Middle English avtre, Middle English awtar, Middle English awteer, Middle English awtir, Middle English awtyr, Middle English nawter, Middle English nawtyr, Middle English–1500s auter, Middle English–1500s autere, Middle English–1500s autre, Middle English–1500s awter, Middle English–1500s awtere, 1500s autare, 1500s autter, 1500s auttyr, 1500s hawter, 1500s nater, 1500s owtter; Scottish pre-1700 autar, pre-1700 auter, pre-1700 autere, pre-1700 awtar, pre-1700 awtare, pre-1700 awter, pre-1700 awtere, pre-1700 awtyr. γ. Middle English aucter, Middle English auctir, Middle English auȝter, Middle English auȝtres (plural), Middle English auhteer, Middle English–1500s aughter. δ. Middle English autier, Middle English autiere, Middle English awtier, Middle English awtiere, Middle English awtyer. ε. Middle English aulteer, Middle English awllter, Middle English awltr, Middle English–1500s aultere, Middle English–1500s awlter, Middle English–1600s aultar, Middle English–1600s aultare, Middle English–1600s aulter, 1500s aultir, 1500s aultor; Scottish pre-1700 aultar, pre-1700 aulter, pre-1700 awlter. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Partly a borrowing from French. Etymons: Latin altāre; French alter. Etymology: Originally < classical Latin altāre (see below); subsequently reinforced by Anglo-Norman autere , Anglo-Norman and Old French alter, auter, Anglo-Norman and Middle French aultier (Anglo-Norman altel , Middle French aultel , Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French autel ) raised structure used as focus of worship in a Christian church (c1100), a similar structure used in Israelite and Jewish worship (especially in the Old Testament) (first half of the 12th cent.), a similar structure placed before the image of a saint in a Christian church (a1307) < classical Latin altāre (plural altāria) raised structure on which to place or sacrifice offerings to a god, such offerings, in post-classical Latin also such a structure as used in Israelite and Jewish worship (Vetus Latina, Vulgate), such a structure in a Christian church (late 2nd or early 3rd cent. in Tertullian), use as noun of an unattested adjective < the base of adolere to burn, cremate (see adolent adj.) + -āris -ar suffix¹. Compare Old Occitan altar, autar (12th cent.), Catalan altar (14th cent.), Spanish altar (beginning of the 13th cent.), Portuguese altar (13th cent.), Italian altare (beginning of the 14th cent.), also Old Frisian altare, altere, altār, etc., Old Saxon altari (Middle Low German altār, altar, olter, etc.), Old High German altāri (Middle High German altāre, alter, German Altar), Old Icelandic altari, altara, Old Swedish, Swedish altare, Old Danish altæræ (Danish alter), and further Old Welsh altaur (9th cent.; Welsh allor), Early Irish, Irish altóir.In classical Latin the plural form altāria is attested earlier and more frequently, with both singular and plural meaning. Singular forms are attested as follows: classical Latin altāre (1st cent. a.d.), altārium (2nd cent. a.d.), post-classical Latin altar (beginning of the 5th cent.), altaris (6th cent.). In classical Latin the word altāria was associated by popular etymology with altus ‘high’ since altars were often set in high places. In Old English two separate borrowings of the Latin word can be traced: an earlier disyllabic one (alter ), showing reduction of the unstressed second syllable, and a later trisyllabic one (altare ), preserving the ending and the quality of the medial syllable of the Latin; the word (in both forms) is apparently usually a strong masculine (it is also occasionally attested with neuter agreement and (in the syncopated inflected form altre ) with feminine agreement). In Old English the more usual word for ‘altar’ (even when translating Latin) is wēofod weved n.; compare the variation illustrated in quots. eOE, OE at sense 1. Forms with initial n- show metanalysis (see N n.). In sense 4 after classical Latin āra altar, used as the name of the constellation (see Ara n.). 1. A block, table, stand, or other raised structure with a flat top used as the focus for a religious ritual, especially for making sacrifices or offerings to a god or gods.In earliest use with reference to Israelite and Jewish practice (esp. in the Old Testament); later examples in non-Christian contexts may be extended from sense 2. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] altareOE wevedc897 ariel1382 aire1581 focus1638 thysiastery1657 eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxiii. 217 Forðæm wæs suiðe ryhtlice beboden Ezechiele ðæm witgan ðæt he scolde ðone Godes alter habban uppan aholodne ðæt he meahte on healdan ða offrunga & ða lac ðe mon brohte to ðæm weobude. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 24 Eornostlice gyf þu bringst þine lac to weofode & þu þær geþencgst þæt ðin broðor hæfð ænig þing agen ðe, læt þær þine lac beforan þam altare [OE Lindisf. wigbed, c1200 Hatton weofede; L. altare] & gang ær & gesybsuma wið þinne broðer. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) 14667 Tacc ysaac þin wennchell & sniþ itt alls itt wære an shep, & leȝȝ itt upp onn allterr, & brenn itt all till asskess. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 135 (MED) Ðe holi man sah þe heg engel atte alteres ende. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1325 Ysaac was leid ðat auter on. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 4709 In Phebus temple..From under thalter sodeinly An hidous Serpent openly Cam out. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 10 Þere is an awtier vpon his [sc. Aristotle's] toumbe. ?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 168 And þer mary offeryth ffowlys on to þe Autere. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Exod. xxxviii. 1 The altare of burnt offrynges. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Macc. iv. 49 The aulter of incense. 1611 Bible (King James) Gen. viii. 20 And Noah builded an Altar vnto the Lord. View more context for this quotation 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 323 So many grateful Altars I would reare Of grassie Terfe. View more context for this quotation 1712 J. Weaver Hist. Dancing 12 The Prosodion, or Litany, or Supplication, was said with a Hymn, when they approach'd towards the Gods, and brought the Sacrifices to the Altar. 1772 T. Pennant Tours Scotl. (1774) 180 An altar for sacrifices to the immortal gods. 1821 Ld. Byron Cain iii. i, in Sardanapalus 425 I will build no more altars. 1859 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Aeneid vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. II. 215 Where, unctuous and appeaseable, The altar of Diana [stands]. 1932 H. V. Morton In Search of Wales vi. 91 [They] imbrued their altars with the blood of their prisoners, and in the entrails of men explored the will of the gods. 2000 D. Lowry Moving toward Stillness xvi. 67 The huge arrays of plants and blossoms that were used in temples [in Japan] to decorate the altars. 2. Christian Church. a. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches: the raised flat-topped structure or table, typically placed at the eastern end of the church in the sanctuary, on which the Eucharist is celebrated as a sacrifice during Mass.Sometimes also: a temporary or portable slab, table, etc., consecrated for this purpose (cf. superaltar n., altar stone n. 2).It was long customary to have only one altar in a church, but as chapels proliferated and the custom of saying private Masses caused other altars to be added (see sense 2b) the original or chief one became known as the high altar: see high altar n. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] > communion table altarOE God's boarda1200 boardc1200 communion table1549 table1550 communion board1553 altela1555 OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) lviii. 101 Sona swa he þæt gewrit uppan þone altare alecge, beginne þis fers. OE Rec. Gifts of Bp. Leofric to Exeter Cathedral (Bodl.) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 226 He hæfð þider ynn gedon ii biscoproda..& ii mycele Cristes bec gebonede & iii gebonede scrin & i geboned altare & v silfrene caliceas. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 49 He schel honden helde weter Þat serueþ to þe autere. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 75 A gret awteer of a faire chirche. a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 381 (MED) I in þe sacrament Of þe auter fully bileue. a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 261 The body of Crist liyng vpon the awter. c1531 Praier of Ploweman sig. Bviij Prestes to offren in the auter thy flesshe & thy blode. 1608 J. Panke Fal of Babel 28 The blessed chalice of the aultar..hath the verie sacrifical blood in it that was shed vpon the Crosse. 1692 J. Washington tr. J. Milton Def. People Eng. ii. 51 He compelled them to set up Altars, which all Protestants abhor. 1716 T. Ward England's Reformation iv. 397 ‘I take 'em to prevent abuses,’ Cants he, and then the Crucifix And Chalice from the Altar clicks. 1737 R. Challoner Catholick Christian Instructed v. 66 After the Communion of the Priest in the Mass, such of the People as are to communicate go up to the Rail before the Altar. 1867 Once a Week 22 June 726/1 Next day Katinka and Feodore kneeled together at the altar of the Orthodox Church of Russia as man and wife. 1884 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. 331 The Host after High Mass..is placed on a throne above the altar. 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses 81 He saw the priest bend down and kiss the altar. 1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate v. 141 Freddy had stood in the doorway of the dark Orthodox chapel..regarding the heavy-laden altar. 1991 S. Hill Air & Angels iii. 20 The Verger was lifting the taper to light the candles on either side of the altar. 2010 Tablet 27 Mar. 15/1 Guerrillas stormed Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, [and] desecrated the host, the altar and the building. b. A similar structure placed before a shrine or sacred image, or in a private or side chapel, etc.Often with distinguishing word or phrase. Cf. Lady Altar n. at lady n. Compounds 2a, side altar n. at side n.¹ Compounds 1a(b), etc. ΚΠ 1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 74 (MED) To fynden a Preste to syngen atte autere of Seint George. c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 150 At seynt Benetes auter in þe moder cherche. 1444 Will in Publ. Somerset Rec. Soc. (1903) 19 340 (MED) My body to be buried in the church of S. Peter the Apostle..before the altar of St. Mary. 1534 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) 27 The rentally belonging to the Chantry att the Altar of St. John. 1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 291/2 He tooke his personall othe before the Aultar of Saint Peter at Westmister, to defende holy Church. 1635 P. Harris Exile Exiled vii. 48 Hee presents himselfe..before the Altar of the two Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul. 1723 J. Dart Westmonasterium I. 40 In this Chapel was an Altar dedicated to St. Andrew, at which whoever heard Mass, had an Indulgence for two Years. 1756 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. I. 413 Another altar exhibits the virgin Mary in the clouds. 1824 R. B. Anderdon Prac. Treat. Duties Churchwardens 6 A little chapel or particular altar..endowed..for the maintenance of a priest, to pray for the souls of the founder and his friends. 1908 Athenæum 12 Sept. 298/1 No relic was necessary for a side altar or one of occasional use. 2009 Ireland's Eye Jan. 23/3 The only other light came from the candles at Our Lady's altar and the corresponding Sacred Heart altar. c. In the Church of England and some other Protestant churches: the table on which the communion bread and wine are blessed; the holy or communion table (cf. table n. 7a).In the first Book of Common Prayer of Edward VI (quot. 1549) the word altar occurs side by side with ‘God's board, Lord's table, Holy table’, the two latter of which at length displaced it in authoritative use (except in the Coronation Service). Later in the 16th and during the 17th cent. the word was the subject of controversy and frequently avoided, with communion table, holy table, etc., being preferred as connoting an act of commemoration rather than a sacrifice. In more recent times (esp. since the Anglo-Catholic liturgical revival of the 19th cent.) the terms are often used interchangeably, although one or the other is sometimes preferred according to the doctrine of the Eucharist held or being emphasized by the speaker. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] > communion table > in reformed churches Lord's Table1533 altar1549 oyster board1563 1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Svpper of the Lorde f. cxxviii^v These wordes before rehersed are to be saied, turning still to the Altar, without any eleuacion, or shewing the Sacrament to the people. 1625 W. Laud Diary in Wks. (1853) III. 181 I returned and offered them [sc. the regalia] solemnly at the altar in the name of the king. a1638 J. Mede Wks. (1672) ii. 386 (marg. title) Of the name Altar anciently given to the Holy Table. 1660 E. Stillingfleet Irenicum i. ii. 66 The Altar (as they Metaphorically called the communion table). 1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 74 Those Disputes brought in new words, and terms (Altar, Adoration, and Genuflexion, and other expressions). 1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1763 I. 257 We went and looked at the church..and walked up to the altar. 1831 Form & Order Service Coronation William IV 34 Then the Archbishop takes the Sword from off the Altar, and..saith: Receive this Kingly Sword, brought now from the Altar of God. 1883 Daily News 27 Mar. 7/2 Disturbing the congregation of St. Paul's Cathedral..[and] breaking certain ornaments on the altar. 1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage viii. 29 Josiah Graves that morning had objected strongly to some candlesticks with which the Vicar had adorned the altar... [saying] they were popish. 1979 H. W. Turner From Temple to Meeting House xi. 214 Luther's conservatism made him content to leave the altar against the east wall. 2005 E. A. Livingstone Oxf. Dict. Christian Church (rev. ed.) at Crucifix In the C of E a crucifix was occasionally used on the altar after the Reformation. d. In allusive use. This structure, or the area around it, as the place at which the marriage service is conducted. Frequently in to lead (a person, typically a woman) to the altar: to marry the person specified. ΚΠ 1653 Duchess of Newcastle Poems & Fancies 159 To the Altar this faire Bride was led. 1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 191 I was Father at the Altar..and gave her away. 1766 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 106 Thus was she led..to the altar. 1820 W. Combe Second Tour Dr. Syntax xxxii. 250 The indissoluble tie Which hallow'd Altars sanctify. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Lord of Burleigh in Poems (new ed.) II. 201 Leads her to the village altar. 1932 L. E. Lawes 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1942) vii. 253 He had married, not wisely, but often. Four trusting damsels he had led to the altar. 1961 J. Carew Last Barbarian 195 The trouble you'll have to go to before he walks you to the altar won't be worth it. 1997 Independent 16 Aug. i. 2/1 The multi-million pound lawsuit filed by Ms Fisher, who says she was ‘left at the altar’. 2009 Daily Tel. 13 May 24/1 Most modern lovebirds step to the altar from fully furnished homes, with all mod cons. e. In the Eastern Orthodox Church: the place in which the holy table is situated, including the area behind the iconostasis and the area directly in front; the sanctuary. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > sanctuary or holy place > [noun] holinessc897 houseeOE halidomc1000 ZionOE God's houseOE wike-tuna1250 saintuairea1300 sanctuarya1340 holy1382 entry?c1400 the Holy (Saint) Sepulchre (occasionally the Sepulchre)c1400 high placea1425 place of worship?1459 synagogue1490 God-box?1548 shrinea1577 bethela1617 prayer house1657 barn1689 bidental1692 altar1772 praying housea1843 1772 J. G. King Rites Greek Church in Russia 54 The elements for the Communion are carried..into the altar, at the royal doors, to be set upon the holy table. 1815 R. Pinkerton tr. Metropolitan Platon Present State Greek Church in Russia 18 In the middle of the altar stands the Holy Table, upon which..a richly-ornamented copy of the Gospels are always laid. 1872 O. Optic Northern Lands x. 195 After the service some of the students were permitted to enter the altar. 1912 G. Harford et al. Prayer Bk. Dict. 447/2 In the East at the present day the word used is Holy Table and the place whereon it stands is called the Altar. 1985 P. Lazor tr. N. Uspensky Evening Worship in Orthodox Church 55 The entry of the clergy into the altar. 2008 Stamford (Connecticut) Advocate (Nexis) 3 Nov. As part of the ceremony, the relics of saints are permanently sealed in a special gold box in the altar's Holy Table. 3. figurative and in extended use. A material or immaterial thing viewed as or likened to an altar, esp. in being dedicated to or used in some sacrifice, ritual, or devotion.See also to sacrifice (a person or thing) at (also on) the altar of at Phrases 1. ΚΠ a1450 (?1419–20) Friar Daw's Reply (Digby) l. 26 in P. L. Heyworth Jack Upland (1968) 73 Datan & Abiron..Wiþ newe senceres ensencen þe auters of synne. 1554 Bp. T. Watson Twoo Notable Serm. ii. sig. Rviii Euerye Christen manne and womanne..vpon the aultare of hys owne hearte oughte to offre Christe too the father. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) i. sig. Ii^v Where thoughts be the temple, sighte is a aultar. a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) v. i. 111 You vnciuill Ladie To whose ingrate, and vnauspicious Altars My soule the faithfull'st offrings haue breath'd out. View more context for this quotation 1688 T. Brown Reasons Mr. Bays Preface sig. A2 This Modern Ceremony of offering up one Author at the Altar of another, is likely to advance into a fashion. 1712 A. Pope Rape of Lock i, in Misc. Poems 360 On shining Altars of Japan they raise The silver Lamp [sc. coffee pot]..From silver Spouts the grateful Liquors glide. 1767 W. Mason in Corr. T. Gray & W. Mason (1853) 401 I will sacrifice the first stanza on your critical altar. 1775 E. Burke Speech Resol. for Concil. Colonies 43 The stones which construct the sacred altar of peace. 1814 Sporting Mag. 43 267 Have not Philosophers, Stoicians,..and Rhetoricians Left sense's cold, insipid shrine To bend 'fore Altars feminine? 1857 C. Heavysege Saul 275 The stars shall sooner fall Each from its sacred altar in the heavens. 1931 J. Drury Dining in Chicago 242 A Sun-Dodger is a person who worships at the altar of Jazz. 2010 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 24 June 8/3 A likable, shy young man happiest before the altar of his Playstation. 4. Astronomy. With the and capital initial. (The English name of) the southern constellation Ara. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > constellation > Southern constellations > [noun] > Ara altar1556 1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 270 Vnder the Scorpions tayle, standeth the Altar. 1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) sig. QQ.ii^v Here mayst thou both the Altar, and the myghty Cup beholde. 1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. vi. 95 The Centaur holds the Wolf by'th heel, The Altar, and Ixion's Wheel, Are never seen of us; but here The Southern Fish brings up the rear. 1744 Philos. Trans. 1740–41 (Royal Soc.) 41 743 The middle Way is best. Nor where in radiant Folds the Serpent twines Direct your Course, nor where the Altar shines. 1868 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin Heavens (ed. 3) 334 The Altar and the Southern Triangle..bring us back to Argo. 1928 Sci. News Let. 22 Dec. 325/1 This nucleus is in the same direction as the constellations of..the Southern Crown, the Altar, the Rule, and the Centaur. 2004 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 1 Sept. 3 A European team found an ‘exoplanet’ orbiting the star mu Arae in the southern constellation of the Altar, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. 5. A poem, text, or dedication written or printed in the form of an altar. Now archaic and historical.Cf. pyramid n. 5 (note), wing n. 1d (quot. 1633). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > types of poem according to form > [noun] > concrete poetry > types of concrete poem pyramid1589 triquet1589 altar1633 1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 18 A broken altar, Lord, thy servant reares, Made of a heart, and cemented with teares. a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 120 As for Altars and Pyramids in Poetry, he has outdone all Men. 1682 J. Dryden Mac Flecknoe 13 Some peaceful Province in Acrostick Land. There thou mayst Wings display, and Alters raise. 1691 T. Brown Congratulatory Poem 5 To Providence and Thee we still shall raise Altars for Thanks, and Pyramids for Praise. 1712 J. Addison Spectator (1786) No. 416. 832/1 False wit; whether it consists in the affinity of letters;..or of a whole sentence or poem, as wings and altars. 1791 Crit. Rev. Nov. 296 Nor are the acrostics, the gryphi, the wings and altars, forgotten. 1867 Galaxy June 174 The ‘Altars’ of Dosiadas are made of verses of unequal length, giving the desired form. 1946 PMLA 61 639 An altar ascribed to Theocritus or Simius Rhodius. 1995 A. Fowler in H. Erskine-Hill & R. A. McCabe Presenting Poetry i. ii. 49 Davison's 20-line altar, with its probable allusion to the twenty of woe. 6. Shipbuilding. Each of the steps or ledges up the sloping sides of a dry or graving dock. Now chiefly historical.Suggested by altar step n. at Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > shipyard or boat-yard > [noun] > dockyard > dry dock > ledge on side of altar1807 1807 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 18 129 His head came in contact with a sort of step, of which there are several projecting from the sides of a dock, and are, I believe, technically called Altars. 1840 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 3 27/2 The object of these altars is for the convenience of placing the shores against the hull of a vessel at any height, and for resting the ends of spars for staging. 1885 L. F. Vernon-Harcourt Harbours & Docks I. 457 The sides of a graving dock..are constructed with steps, or altars, for receiving the timber props which support the vessel in an upright position. 1910 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 363/2 The vessel is further supported on each side by timber shores supported on the steps or ‘altars’ of the side walls. 1990 P. M. Becht & J. R. Hetherman in J. Gaythwaite Design Marine Facilities x. 425 Originally docks were designed with sloping walls having many offsets called altars. Phrases P1. to sacrifice (a person or thing) at (also on) the altar of: to sacrifice, give up, or make (a person or thing) suffer in the interests of or to attain the thing specified. ΚΠ 1770 Gentleman's & London Mag. Apr. 208/1 I..exhorted the advocates for that expulsion, to sacrifice a private resentment..at the altar of public tranquillity. 1847 Med. Times 16 434/3 The public benefit is sacrificed at the altar of personal ambition. 1993 J. K. Hall tr. T. Terzani Goodnight, Mister Lenin (1994) viii. 123 In 1933 there were little more than three million [Kazakh people]. The others had been sacrificed on the altar of collectivization. 2007 Guardian 22 Mar. (Technology section) 3/5 A new cinema..where narrative drive is sacrificed at the altar of fetishised hyperviolence. P2. altar of repose n. the altar where the Sacred Host, consecrated in the Mass on Holy Thursday, is reserved until the following day. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] > to which sacrament is removed sepulture1485 sepulchre1737 altar of repose1849 1849 Rambler Apr. 556/1 When the ‘altar of repose’ (called also the ‘sepulchre’) is reached, the Bishop deposits his precious charge upon the throne of estate. 1976 N. Roberts Face of France vii. 82 The procession to the Altar of Repose, when the Tantum Ergo comes rolling out in Gregorian and sonorous Latin. 2011 Falmouth Packet (Nexis) 29 Mar. Solemn eucharist of the Lord's supper with the Mandatum, procession to the Altar of Repose, Stripping of Altars and the Watch of Prayer to 10pm. Compounds C1. a. General attributive. Of, belonging to, connected with, or used on an altar, as altar book, altar candle, altar pile, altar side, altar top, altar towel, etc.See also Compounds 2, and altar cloth n., altarpiece n., altar stone n., etc. ΚΠ 1549 in H. J. Feasey Anc. Eng. Holy Week Ceremonial (1897) 21 Dyuerse other thinges as Towelles, Aulter Cortyns [etc.]. 1590 T. Fenne Hecubaes Mishaps in Frutes sig. Ee3^v I drew him to the altar side. 1618 ( Inventory in E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. (1866) 182 Syx alter towelles of lynnen cloth. 1642 H. Parker Altar Dispute iii. 36 If..the Altar wall were againe removed,..the Altar would be seene standing in the very middle of the Quire. 1649 J. Lightfoot Temple Service ix. 104 Going to the Altar top, he scrapes the coals this way, and that way. a1654 A. Ross Πανσεβεια (1655) xiii. 450 Wash also the Altar linnen. 1716 M. Davies Athenæ Britannicæ II. 381 Church-Ornaments, Priest-Vestments, Altar-Garments, or such like Fundamental Articles of Papism. 1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. (ed. 2) III. lxii. 40 A set of altar furniture of amber. 1816 Ld. Byron Darkness 58 The dying embers of an altar-place. 1832 R. Montgomery Messiah i. 10 Then Isaac, when the stony altar-pile..Was founded..cried,—‘My father!’ 1860 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 6 The Altar-tapers flar'd in gusts. 1865 F. G. Lee Purchas's Directorium Anglicanum (ed. 2) 5 (note) Where no Altar-cross has been provided..a metal Cross..is to be preferred to an embroidered one. 1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 34 From the altar-top Strewing her golden hair with ashes hoar. 1934 T. S. Eliot Rock ii. 74 The Crowd enter with altar-books. 1999 Fortean Times Feb. 7/2 When he opened the church door, he was nearly brained by a flying altar candle. b. Objective with agent and verbal nouns, as altar adorer, altar builder, altar building, altar burning, altar maker, altar smasher, etc.From the Reformation to the 19th cent. often denoting persons or practices regarded as tending towards Roman Catholicism, or actions intended to counter or eradicate these. ΚΠ ?a1325 ( in H. T. Riley Munimenta Gildhallæ Londoniensis (1860) II. 107 (MED) Thomam Torgot, autermakere. 1629 W. Prynne Church of Englands Old Antithesis Ep. Ded. sig. ¶4^v Altar-adorations, (complained of not long since in Parliament). 1637 W. Prynne Quench-coale ii. 274 If our Altar-worshippers will presse or imitate his example, then they must bow and worship towards our Churches-steeples. 1641 in J. Rushworth Hist. Coll.: Third Pt. (1692) I. 553 A notable Arminian and an Altar-adorer. ?1705 E. Hickeringill Vindic. Char. Priest-craft 22 Cold Formality, and Altar-Worship. 1728 W. Asplin Alkibla 17 That general Rule for Altar-Building..a Necessity for placing all the Altars of the Gods towards the East. 1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus iii. iii. 78/2 Were this an altar-building time. 1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. v. vii. 337 Gun-boring, Altar-burning, Saltpetre-digging, and miraculous improvements in Tannery. 1869 J. B. Rose Two Hist. Tracts 12 The Calvinist and the friend of Knox and the altar destroyers. 1874 Evangelical Repository June 298 These devout altar-builders to the Unknown God. 1914 Philistine May 107 Diary of an altar wrecker. 1997 A. Jacobs tr. D. Colas Civil Soc. & Fanaticism 114 Luther opposed the same argument..against all image and altar smashers. 2006 T. A. Tweed Crossing & Dwelling (2008) iv. 107 Catholic altar makers in rural Mexico have constructed sacred spaces in their one-room dwellings. c. Instrumental and locative, as altar-plighted, altar-vowed, etc. Now rare. ΚΠ 1747 S. Richardson Clarissa II. xii. 64 Some new breach of an Altar-vow'd duty. 1843 Proc. Gen. Anti-slavery Convent. 163 An altar-pledged hostility to slavery. 1901 Cent. Mag. Feb. 540 Hand in hand, with a radiant smile, Altar-plighted,..Treading a rose-embroidered aisle. 1953 New World Writing 4 198 Mrs Lowry considered following him..and bringing him back to face his altar-sworn responsibilities. C2. altar board n. †(a) = altar table n.; cf. communion board n. at communion n. Compounds 2 (obsolete); (b) (in the Coptic Church) a removable oblong board, typically decorated with a cross, which is set into an altar and on which the consecration of the host takes place. ΚΠ c1480 (a1400) St. Juliana l. 102 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 427 Quhar tretyt is þe sacrament of godis body at altare burd. 1637 W. Prynne Quench-coale 117 S. Augustine sayth, that in his time in Africa they were made of wood. For the Donatists, sayth he, breake in sunder the Altar-boords. 1798 tr. W. Oppenheim Geogr. & Statist. Acct. Cisalpine Republic 183 The altar-board consists of a plate of red Veronese marble, six feet in breadth. 1848 W. J. Blew Ecclesia Dei 28 A lordly Bishop..Deeming its [sc. the Cross's] presence on the altar-board..A thing to be avoided and abhorr'd! 1992 N. El-Agamy tr. T. Y. Malaty Dict. Church Terms 9 When necessary, the Eucharist may take place at any place as long as there is an Altar Board. altar boy n. (originally and esp. in the Roman Catholic Church) a boy who acts as a priest's assistant during a service. ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > person in minor orders > acolyte > [noun] > serving mass server1620 altar boy1772 1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund I. 150 Idiots who are not fit to be made altar-boys [Sp. monacillos]. 1890 Cent. Mag. Jan. 400/1 The priest is accompanied by the altar-boy. 1976 Ebony Nov. 75/1 At Martin Temple..Zion Church..red-and-white-robed members of the choir... are followed by two altar boys and their pastor. 2008 J. Quinn Goodnight Ballivor xvi. 83 When all had paid, the altar boys gathered the four corners of the tablecloth and made off with ‘the take’ to the sacristy. altar bread n. the bread or wafer used in the Eucharist. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > consumables > eucharistic elements > bread > [noun] fleshc1000 ofleteOE mannaa1200 breada1225 bread of lifea1300 host1303 bodya1325 obleya1325 God's bodya1387 cakec1390 singing bread1432 bread of wheata1450 singing loaf1530 God's bread1535 bread god?1548 round robin?1548 holy bread1552 singing cake1553 Jack-in-the-box1554 wafer-cake?1554 wafer1559 wafer-bread1565 breaden god1570 mass cake1579 wafer-god1623 hostel1624 maker1635 hostie1641 oblata1721 altar bread1839 prosphora1874 1839 Catholic Directory 189 (advt.) Altar Breads and cards supplied. 1849 D. Rock Church our Fathers I. ii. 144 [In East Syria] the altar bread was unleavened, the..ceremonies were imported from the Western rite. 1961 D. Attwater Christian Churches of East I. 224 The Byzantine altar-bread..[is] like a small loaf or cake. 2006 D. Angel-Bridge Full Circle 248 Pictures of a priest holding out a piece of altar bread towards a kneeling couple. altar call n. U.S. an appeal made during a Christian worship service (esp. an evangelical one) inviting congregants to approach the preacher to make a public expression of their faith or participate in spiritual healing through prayer; cf. altar service n. 4. ΚΠ 1896 Des Moines (Iowa) Daily News 10 Jan. 4/2 When he [sc. evangelist Hugh Smith] made the altar call he appealed directly to all who wanted pardon and purity to signify by lifting the hand or rising. 1935 N. L. McClung Clearing in West iii. 20 We were late for the meeting and the altar call was sounding when we entered, and crowds of people were pressing forward. 1992 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. 3 Oct. e6/2 Traditional black worship style, marked by emotional sermons, shouts of ‘amen,’ altar calls and testimonies, grew out of the experience of slaves. 2011 Church Times 16 Dec. 18/1 There was more singing, and then the minister preached... Then there was the altar call, followed by yet more singing, prayers, and a final benediction. altar card n. any of a set of cards (typically three) placed on the altar and containing parts of the Eucharistic prayers to assist the priest's memory. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [noun] > communion table > card placed on altar card1768 1768 Laity's Direct. 24 (advt) Lately printed on a fine Writing Paper, Altar Cards of Different Sizes. 1849 T. Grant Let. 4 July in ‘G. Ramsay’ Thomas Grant (1874) v. 85 A subscription for publishing on stone a set of illuminated altar cards. 1884 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. at Altar Under the crucifix there ought to be an altar-card, with certain prayers which the priest cannot read from the Missal without inconvenience. 2009 Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota) (Nexis) 29 Sept. I've served Mass from the days when everything was in Latin (with altar cards..to help). altar cavity n. a small chamber in the body of an altar, esp. (chiefly Roman Catholic Church) one in which holy relics are placed when the alter is consecrated; cf. sepulchre n. Additions.Also called sepulchrum (see sepulchrum n.). ΚΠ 1884 A. J. Butler Anc. Coptic Churches Egypt II. i. 14 The chief if not the sole use of the altar-cavity among the Copts is on Good Friday, when a picture of the cross is buried in rose leaves within it, to be uncovered on Easter morning. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 761/2 In the Roman Catholic Church,..the component parts of a fixed altar in the liturgical sense are the table (mensa);..the support (stipes);..the sepulchrum, or altar-cavity, a small chamber for the reception of the relics of martyrs. 1961 L. Eisenhofer & J. Lechner Liturgy Rom. Rite v. i. 120 The altar-cavity (sepulchrum) containing the relics of saints and closed with a stone. 2010 Z. Bartels Last Con xiii. 81 I need you to access the altar cavity and tell me what's inside. Keep your eyes open for surprises. altar facing n. = altar front n. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > cloths, carpets, cushions > cloth (general) > altar cloth > [noun] > at front hatchOE frontal1381 pall?a1475 antepend1501 pendle1501 stole1513 suffront1516 altar cloth1522 front1533 altar front1539 antependium1594 fronton1749 altar frontal1836 altar facing1856 1856 Fraser's Mag. Nov. 566/2 One of the many emeralds..of which the entire surface of the..altar facings..is composed in St. Andrea della Valle. 1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 308 These altar-facings were moveable. 1992 Canada NewsWire (Nexis) 21 Jan. From 1820 to 1850, artistic endeavour became greatly diversified, giving rise to..portraits, landscapes, religious scenes, copies and pastiches, altar facings,..etc. altar fire n. (a) the fire on an altar; (b) (figurative) religious spirit or rite. ΚΠ 1632 J. Vicars tr. Virgil XII Aeneids ii. 38 Our countrey Gods, holy headbands, And altar-fire he put into my hands [L. effert penetralibus ignem]. 1696 J. Lead Fountain of Gardens sig. P3 Your charge is only to attend this Altar-Fire, and the pure Celestial Oyl, that is the Freewill, which the holy flaming Body doth subsist of. 1703 Universal Dict. at Lemuria Holidays kept by the Old Romans, to the Lemures or Ghosts:..they threw Beans on the Altar fire, to drive them out of their Houses. 1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xl. 62 Mounts the heavenward altar-fire . View more context for this quotation 2002 N. Drury Dict. Esoteric 134/2 The Haruspex..interpreted the movements of the flames in the altar-fire during ritual sacrifice. altar front n. a hanging or panel, often decorative, covering the front face of the altar; = antependium n. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > cloths, carpets, cushions > cloth (general) > altar cloth > [noun] > at front hatchOE frontal1381 pall?a1475 antepend1501 pendle1501 stole1513 suffront1516 altar cloth1522 front1533 altar front1539 antependium1594 fronton1749 altar frontal1836 altar facing1856 1539 Inventory Cathedral Ely 20 Nov. in Gentleman's Mag. (1783) June 483/2 An altar front of rede counterfete bawdkyn. 1566 in E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. (1866) 56 Item an altar ffront sold to Sir Richard thoryld. 1749 Universal Mag. Aug. 72/1 Seventeen Antependiums, or altar-fronts of the same metal and workmanship [as the pulpits]. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands iii. 80 A beautiful silver altar-front. 1979 J. F. Butler Christianity Asia & Amer. 31 The double-headed eagle on the altar front refers to the Augustinian see of Mylapore. 2000 Victorian Mar. 13/1 A canon table in The Book of Kells could have been the inspiration for the altar front, with spandrels containing the winged emblems of the four Evangelists. altar frontal n. = altar front n. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > cloths, carpets, cushions > cloth (general) > altar cloth > [noun] > at front hatchOE frontal1381 pall?a1475 antepend1501 pendle1501 stole1513 suffront1516 altar cloth1522 front1533 altar front1539 antependium1594 fronton1749 altar frontal1836 altar facing1856 1836 Dublin Rev. May 174 There were nine altar frontals of cloth of gold, embroidered, one with the twelve apostles. 1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 308 A more important class of panel picture—viz. the altar-frontals or antependia. 1919 Brooklyn Mus. Q. 6 184 Middle section of Altar frontal. Needlepoint... Eagle is central figure. 2003 National Art Coll. Fund Rev. 2002 129/2 A 15th-century German altar frontal depicting the Crucifixion. altar girl n. (originally and esp. in the Roman Catholic Church) a girl who tends an altar, esp. one who acts as a priest's assistant during a service; cf. altar boy n. ΚΠ 1905 Our Paper 14 Oct. 649/3 In the darkness of the church [in Prague], notwithstanding the candles,..I was not certain whether they were altar boys or altar girls. 1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Altar girl, a girl acting as a lay assistant in church services. 1985 Cincinnati Mag. Dec. 17/1 I knew that altar girls were uncommon in suburban Cincinnati, especially in the little parish where I had grown up. 2002 T. Hartman Halbertal Appropriately Subversive ii. 42 My daughter decided to become an altar girl. † altar god n. Obsolete rare (in depreciative use) the Eucharist characterized as a false idol. ΚΠ ?1554 tr. H. Latimer Protestation in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) III. App. 93 That their white Idoll, I shulde haue said their Alter God, hathe. altar plate n. (as a mass noun) the plates, cups, and other vessels and utensils, typically of precious metal, used in the communion rite; (as a count noun) one of these, esp. a communion plate. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > implement (general) > vessel (general) > paten > [noun] patenlOE platena1450 patel1548 bread plate1608 bread bowl1638 altar plate1647 patera1658 offertory1672 patina1868 1647 Perfect Occurr. Parl. No. 6. 42 That the Kings Plate (called Altar-Plate) be melted, and made into Boules, for His Majesty to drinke in. 1798 W. Oppenheim tr. Geogr. & Statist. Acct. Cisalpine Republic 415 In the church St. Proculo is a very fine big altar-plate of verde antico, sixteen spans long. 1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. III. ii. xiii. 99 The desecration of the abbey-chapels and altar-plate. 1964 B. Millett Irish Franciscans i. iv. 84 The soldiers..[had] desecrated the tombs in the church in the belief that the altar-plate had been hidden in them. 2003 National Art Coll. Fund Rev. 2002 113/2 This bejewelled altar plate forms part of the furnishings of the chapel at Tyntesfield. altar pyx n. a box in which the consecrated bread of the Eucharist is kept on the altar (cf. pyx n.¹ 1). ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > implement (general) > vessel (general) > pyx > [noun] boxc1325 pyx?a1425 sacrament-boxc1440 custode1510 Eucharist1535 pyxis1536 little Jack1566 altar pyx1605 chrismal1845 Eucharistial1845 custodial1861 1605–6 Act 3 Jas. I c. 5 §15 in Statutes of Realm (1819) IV. ii. 1082 Any Altar Pix Beades Pictures or suche like Popish Reliques. 1681 J. Oldham Satyrs upon Jesuits 84 Yon Altar-Pix of Gold is the Abode And safe Repository of their God. 1888 W. Scott tr. C. Boito Basilica S. Mark ii. viii. 248 The first place among the architectural works,..is held by the Altar-pyxes, invariably formed of four monolith arcades. 1990 D. Easterman Brotherhood of Tomb iv. 42 Above the altar pyx, someone had scrawled a message in large black letters. altar rail n. (frequently in plural) a rail separating the sanctuary from the main body of the church, behind which Communion is typically received. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar rail > [noun] > altar rails altar rail1641 1641 R. Dey Two Looks over Lincolne 3 The Bishop of Lincolnes Crosier, that Episcopall instrument made of an Altar-raile. 1642 J. Vicars God in Mount 23 The souldiers..pulling-down altar-rails, turning altars into Communion-Table postures [etc.] 1757 J. Prinsep Let. 30 Aug. in T. Secker Corr. (1991) 280 An Estement for Painting & ornamenting the Chancell..The altar Rail [etc.]. 1861 W. G. Clark in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 53 An aged priest, standing within the altar rails. 1965 B. Friel Philadelphia, Here I come! 59 Up at the altar rails there's Maire..and you couldn't tell whether she was crying or giggling. 2003 Church Times 12 Dec. 12/3 When the children come to the altar rail for a blessing they are given tea lights which are then lit round the font. altar screen n. (a) (in the Eastern Orthodox Church) the screen which separates the sanctuary from the main body of the church, typically richly decorated with icons; = iconostasis n.; (b) (in the Western Church) the ornamental screen behind an altar, often having sculpted figures, niches, finials, tabernacles, etc.; = reredos n. 5a. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > screen > [noun] purpitle1354 screen1587 pulpitum1640 sept1640 cancelli1642 altar screena1691 reredos1745 jube1767 catapetasma1798 rood screen1817 iconostas1833 iconostasis1833 haikal screen1902 choir-screen- society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > parts of altar > [noun] > back reredos1447 altarpiece1624 altar screena1691 retable1817 superaltar1847 gradin1877 posticum1890 a1691 P. Skippon Acct. Journey Low-Countries in Churchill's Coll. Voy. (1732) VI. 667/2 The Greek priest sat behind the..altar screen. 1768 F. Drake Accurate Descrip. Cathedral York 47 In the Year 1760 Dr. Fountayne, the present worthy Dean, caused the Tapestry to be taken from the Altar-Screen, which is a magnificent Piece of Gotick Architecture. 1838 J. Britton Dict. Archit. & Archæol. 299 The high altar-screen of Durham Cathedral. 1986 Times 24 July 1/3 Bride and groom negotiated the narrow door in the altar screen for the 10-minute signing of the marriage registers. 1999 Independent 8 June i. 14/7 He was visible through the open iconostasis, or altar screen, which in most Orthodox churches hides the priest from view. altar servant n. a person who serves at an altar; spec. a priest or priest's assistant; cf. altar servant n. ΚΠ 1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God vii. xx. 281 The altar-seruant, or sacrificer [L. minister ad ara]. 1847 Brit. Protestant Dec. 197 The Priest's altar-servant. 1999 M. Metzger Hist. Liturgy vi. 124 The functions of deacon and subdeacon have endured, sometimes those of acolyte (reduced to the role of altar servant). altar server n. a person who serves at an altar, a priest's assistant; cf. altar servant n., altar service n. 3. ΚΠ 1826 Polit. Hermit 42 Monasteries were..changed into manufacturies,..and altar-servers into husbandmen. 1920 P. Green Our Kid 7 He takes his turn, one morning a week, as altar-server at church, going in afterwards to the Clergy House to breakfast. 2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 5 Apr. a3/2 The bishop fended off the man..as altar servers and other church workers jumped to his defense. altar slab n. a slab, typically of marble or stone, forming the top of an altar; an altar stone. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > parts of altar > [noun] > top altar stonec1350 altar slab1787 mensa1848 1787 County Mag. Apr. 250/3 The altar-slab is of a bright enamel. 1866 E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. 21 The altar-slabs thus used as fire-backs and bridges. 1916 F. Bond Chancel Eng. Churches i. 49 Not all of the altar slabs..were broken up;..some were laid down as pavements of the church. 2010 Cornishman (Nexis) 4 Mar. 25 Celtic missionaries would carry small stone altar slabs. altar stair n. (as collective singular) a flight of stairs leading up to an altar; (as a count noun, frequently in plural) one of these stairs; also figurative. ΚΠ 1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 21 Now we stood on the altar stair. 1846 J. Keble Lyra Innocentium 189 Chancel screen and Altar stair. 1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh iv. 164 The topmost altar-stair. 1921 Rotarian Apr. 167 Here is Rotary's throne, the others [sc. other worthy societies] are the mere altar-stairs. 2010 Express (Scottish ed.) (Nexis) 17 Sept. 4 Her mother carried her all the way up the altar stairs. altarstead n. the place where an altar stands. ΚΠ 1724 T. Wearing Serm. Opening St. Andrew’s Church Penrith 20 in Two Serm. A private Subject..who vow'd his Threshing-floor for an Altar-stead. 1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise 94 Hung up as relics nigh the altar-stead. 1918 Irish Monthly Mar. 126 The tower arches give the altar-stead a mystic remoteness. 2001 S. C. Karant-Nunn in T. A. Brady & E. Müller-Luckner Die deutsche Reformation 169 Blocking up the old altarstead was an effort to relegate every idolatrous supposition that this site itself held out the divine to believers. altar step n. a step leading up to an altar; cf. altar stair n. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > gradual > [noun] settle1611 altar step1637 gradual1693 predella1757 solea1858 dais1888 1637 W. Prynne Quench-coale Ep. Ded. 11 He unhappily fell downe against the Altar-steps. 1798 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 835/1 In the South chancel, which belongs to the lord of the manor, the altar-step and piscina. 1846 J. Keble Lyra Innocentium 14 With pure heart to fall Before His Altar-step. 1934 K. O'Brien Ante-room i. vi. 85 A procession of boys poured out from the sacristy and led a gold-coped priest to the altar steps. 2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 5 July 60/3 Under van Gent's painting there was a predella, or decorated altar-step, by Paolo Uccello. altar table n. a table that is or forms an altar; an altar or altar slab; cf. table n. 7a. [Compare Middle Dutch outaertafel altar top, altar slab (Dutch altaartafel, now also in sense ‘painted altarpiece’), and also Old Frisian altartefle, Middle Low German alt̄artaffel, German Altartafel (14th cent.), all in sense ‘painted altarpiece’. Compare further Middle French, French table d'autel (1472 in sense ‘altar top, altar slab’; earlier denoting a type of decorative cloth apparently for the altar top (1419)).] ΚΠ 1477 in E. Hobhouse Church-wardens' Accts. (1890) 110 For the caryage of the Altar-table from Wellys ijd. 1566 in E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. (1866) 42 On alter table broken by Mr. Vycar. 1797 E. Hasted Hist. Kent (ed. 2) II. 549 Under an altar table of stone, supported by small pillars, lies the figure of a knight in armour. 1870 Architect 15 Jan. 36/2 The altar table is elevated on a foot-pace of stone richly tiled. 1961 L. Eisenhofer & J. Lechner Liturgy Rom. Rite v. i. 120 The altar-table (mensa)..must be firmly attached to the body [of the altar] and cover its whole surface. 2006 Church Times 5 May 6/2 The altar table, font, and pulpit have all been made from an oak tree that was cut down in the car park. altar-thegn n. [after Old English wēofod-þegn (compare quot. OE)] historical (with reference to the Anglo-Saxon period) the priest serving at an altar; a mass-priest.Quot. 1720 is a translation of quot. OE. ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > kinds of priest > [noun] > celebrating mass mass-priesteOE masserOE priestOE rood priest1516 massing priest1554 missara1560 sacrificer1563 Christ-maker1571 sacrificule1604 conficient1614 celebrant1624 missalian1624 missalist1624 waiter at the altar1648 altar-thegn1720 president1945 OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. xxxix. 340 Gyf hwa weofodþen [L. altaris ministrum] afylle, sy he utlah wið God & wið men.] 1720 J. Johnson Coll. Eccl. Laws Church of Eng. I. sig. Ee2 If one murder an Altar-Thane, let him be outlaw'd with God and Man. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Altar-thane in our ancient law-books, denotes a priest or parson of a parish. 1850 F. A. Trevelyan Lect. Hist. Eng. I. x. 164 Next to kings, the clergy, who were called mass-priests, or altar-thanes, were most thought of. 1913 S. O. Addy Church & Manor 167 The laws speak of the mass-thane, or altar-thane, and the world-thane, or secular thane. 1962 H. R. Loyn Anglo-Saxon Eng. vi. 245 The mass thegns and altar thegns of the legal codes were men of some standing. altar tomb n. a solid rectangular raised tomb that resembles an altar in being typically free-standing with a flat table-like top. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > obsequies > monument > [noun] > over tomb > type of hearse1552 heroon1601 altar tomb1631 turbeh1687 the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > grave or burial-place > types of tomb > [noun] > resembling an altar altar tomb1631 1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 293 In the same Chappell lyeth Iohn Dering..who was great grandchilde to the foresaid Richard Dering of Surenden, whose Altar tombe is since laid flat. 1739 F. Blomefield Ess. Topogr. Hist. Norfolk I. 227 Under this, is an Altar-Tomb cover'd with a Black Marble. 1769 T. Gray Jrnl. 9 Oct. in Poems (1775) 368 There is an altar-tomb of one of them dated 1577. a1878 G. G. Scott Lect. Mediæval Archit. (1879) I. 180 The marble altar-tomb of Queen Eleanor. 1999 Oxoniensia 63 79 The monument..consists of an altar-tomb with a Purbeck marble cover-slab. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.eOE
随便看	madeira glass madeira lace madeira laurel madeira mahogany madeira nut madeira orchis madeira sauce madeira tea madeira vine madeira wine madeira wood madeira work madeira-drinking madeiradrinking madeiran madeiras madeleine madeleines madelung madelung constant madelung potential madelung's deformity mademoiselle mademoiselles madent