CHURCH

church, church building

(noun) a place for public (especially Christian) worship; “the church was empty”

church, Christian church

(noun) one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship

church

(noun) the body of people who attend or belong to a particular local church; “our church is hosting a picnic next week”

church

(verb) perform a special church rite or service for; “church a woman after childbirth”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

church (countable and uncountable, plural churches)

(countable) A Christian house of worship; a building where Christian religious services take place. [from 9th c.]

Christians collectively seen as a single spiritual community; Christianity. [from 9th c.]

(countable) A local group of people who follow the same Christian religious beliefs, local or general. [from 9th c.]

(countable) A particular denomination of Christianity. [from 9th c.]

(uncountable, countable, as bare noun) Christian worship held at a church; service. [from 10th c.]

(uncountable) Organized religion in general or a specific religion considered as a political institution.

(informal) Any religious group. [from 16th c.]

(obsolete) Assembly.

Usage notes

• Several senses of church are routinely used in prepositional phrases as a bare noun, without a determiner or article. This is like home and unlike house.

• (organized religion): Often capitalized as "(the) Church" without referring to a specific formal institution with that title.

Synonyms

• (building): chapel (small church), kirk (Scotland)

• (group of worshipers): congregation

Hypernyms

• (religious group): religion

• (house of worship): building

Coordinate terms

• mosque, synagogue, temple, gurdwara, hof, fire temple, circle, mandir, jinja, House of Worship, monastery, heiau

Hyponyms

(Proper noun hyponyms of church):

• Anglican Church

• Byzantine Church

• Catholic Church

• Christian Church

• Church of England

• Church of Rome

• Church of Scotland

• Church of the East

• Church Slavonic

• Congregational church

• Eastern Church

• Eastern Orthodox Church

• Greek Church

• Greek Catholic Church

• Greek Orthodox Church

• High Church

• Latin Church

• LDS church

• Low Church

• Lutheran Church

• Maronite Church

• New Church

• Orthodox Church

• Orthodox Catholic Church

• Oriental Church

• Oriental Orthodox Church

• Roman Catholic Church

• Western Church

(Other hyponyms of church):

• autocephalous church

• autonomous church

• broad church

• established church

• free church

• local church

• parish church

• particular church

• simple church

• state church

• union church

Verb

church (third-person singular simple present churches, present participle churching, simple past and past participle churched)

(transitive, now historical) To conduct a religious service for (a woman after childbirth, or a newly married couple). [from 15th c.]

(transitive) To educate someone religiously, as in in a church.

Proper noun

Church

A surname.

(used with "the") A specific church (Christian religious denomination), such as the Church of England or the Catholic Church.

• Catechism of the Catholic Church

A village near Accrington in Lancashire, England.

Source: Wiktionary

Church, n. Etym: [OE. chirche, chireche, cherche, Scot. kirk, from AS. circe, cyrice; akin to D. kerk, Icel. kirkja, Sw. kyrka, Dan. kirke, G. kirche, OHG. chirihha; all fr. Gr. ç\'d4ra hero, Zend. çura strong, OIr. caur, cur, hero. Cf. Kirk.]

1. A building set apart for Christian worship.

2. A Jewish or heathen temple. [Obs.] Acts xix. 37.

3. A formally organized body of Christian believers worshiping together. "When they had ordained them elders in every church." Acts xiv. 23.

4. A body of Christian believers, holding the same creed, observing the same rites, and acknowledging the same ecclesiastical authority; a denomination; as, the Roman Catholic church; the Presbyterian church.

5. The collective body of Christians.

6. Any body of worshipers; as, the Jewish church; the church of Brahm.

7. The aggregate of religious influences in a community; ecclesiastical influence, authority, etc.; as, to array the power of the church against some moral evil. Remember that both church and state are properly the rulers of the people, only because they are their benefactors. Bulwer.

Note: Church is often used in composition to denote something belonging or relating to the church; as, church authority; church history; church member; church music, etc. Apostolic church. See under Apostolic.

– Broad church. See Broad Church.

– Catholic or Universal church, the whole body of believers in Christ throughout the world.

– Church of England, or English church, the Episcopal church established and endowed in England by law.

– Church living, a benefice in an established church.

– Church militant. See under Militant.

– Church owl (Zoöl.), the white owl. See Barn owl.

– Church rate, a tax levied on parishioners for the maintenance of the church and its services.

– Church session. See under Session.

– Church triumphant. See under Triumphant.

– Church work, work on, or in behalf of, a church; the work of a particular church for the spread of religion.

– Established church, the church maintained by the civil authority; a state church.

Church, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Churched; p. pr. & vb. n. Churching.]

Definition: To bless according to a prescribed form, or to unite with in publicly returning thanks in church, as after deliverance from the dangers of childbirth; as, the churching of women.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition