n. 1. A building for public, especially Christian worship. 2. often Church a. The company of all Christians regarded as a spiritual body. b. A specified Christian denomination: the Presbyterian Church. c. A congregation. 3. Public divine worship in a church; a religious service: goes to church at Christmas and Easter. 4. The clerical profession; clergy. 5. Ecclesiastical power as distinguished from the secular: the separation of church and state. tr.v. churched, church·ing, church·es To conduct a church service for, especially to perform a religious service for (a woman after childbirth). adj. Of or relating to the church; ecclesiastical. [Middle English chirche, from Old English cirice, ultimately from Medieval Greek kūrikon, from Late Greek kūriakon (dōma), the Lord's (house), neuter of Greek kūriakos, of the lord, from kūrios, lord; see keuə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
American painter and leader of the Hudson River School. His works include Heart of the Andes (1859). |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.