chapel

[chap-uhl]

noun

1. a private or subordinate place of prayer or worship; oratory.

2. a separately dedicated part of a church, or a small independent churchlike edifice, devoted to special services.

3. a room or building for worship in an institution, palace, etc.

4. (in Great Britain) a place of worship for members of various dissenting Protestant churches, as Baptists or Methodists.

5. a separate place of public worship dependent on the church of a parish.

6. a religious service in a chapel.

   Don't be late for chapel!

7. a funeral home or the room in which funeral services are held.

8. a choir or orchestra of a chapel, court, etc.

9. a print shop or printing house.

10. an association of employees in a print shop for dealing with their interests, problems, etc.

verb (used with object)

chapeled, chapeling , chapelled, chapelling .

1. Nautical.,  to maneuver (a sailing vessel taken aback) by the helm alone until the wind can be recovered on the original tack.

adjective

1. (in England) belonging to any of various dissenting Protestant sects.

chapel

/ ˈtʃæpəl /

noun

1. a place of Christian worship in a larger building, esp a place set apart, with a separate altar, in a church or cathedral

2. a similar place of worship in or attached to a large house or institution, such as a college, hospital or prison

3. a church subordinate to a parish church

4. 1. a Nonconformist place of worship

   2. Nonconformist religious practices or doctrine

   3. ( as adjective ) Compare church

      he is chapel, but his wife is church

5. (in Scotland) a Roman Catholic church

6. the members of a trade union in a particular newspaper office, printing house, etc

7. a printing office

Word History and Origins

Origin of chapel¹

1175–1225; Middle English chapele < Old French < Late Latin cappella hooded cloak, equivalent to capp ( a ) ( cap ¹ ) + -ella diminutive suffix; first applied to the sanctuary where the cloak of St. Martin (4th-century bishop of Tours) was kept as a relic

Word History and Origins

Origin of chapel¹

C13: from Old French chapele, from Late Latin cappella, diminutive of cappa cloak (see _cap ); originally denoting the sanctuary where the cloak of St Martin of Tours was kept as a relic

Example Sentences

Grief, too, steers us, a cleansing ritual, as I recall each time my wife and I meander beneath Green-Wood’s leafy canopy, parakeets swooping and chattering overhead, or sit quietly in its hushed chapel.

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The tower had living quarters, courtyards, kitchens, a great hall where feasting took place and a chapel with a burial ground.

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He said: "The baby should have been in a chapel of rest and she wasn't, so we were like, 'what's going on here?'"

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When his parents became desperately ill, though, Mr Paterson pulled his relatives into the hospital chapel and told them he suspected his estranged wife had been trying to poison him for years.

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There will then be a private removal on Saturday morning, with the funeral cortege arriving at the chapel for a funeral Mass beginning at 12:00.

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Related Words

• church 
• sanctuary 
• shrine