transept

[tran-sept]

noun

Architecture.

1. any major transverse part of the body of a church, usually crossing the nave, at right angles, at the entrance to the choir.

2. an arm of this, on either side of the central aisle of a church.

transept

/ ˈtrænsɛpt /

noun

1. either of the two wings of a cruciform church at right angles to the nave

Other Word Forms

• transeptal adjective
• transeptally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of transept¹

From the Anglo-Latin word trānseptum, dating back to 1530–40. See trans-, septum

Word History and Origins

Origin of transept¹

C16: from Anglo-Latin transeptum , from Latin _trans- + saeptum enclosure

Example Sentences

Four weeks later, on the day of the concert, Hulthage purchased a tuxedo but had yet to change as he helped set up chairs for the strings in the transept of Westwood United Methodist Church.

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The restoration lasted over a year, and in that time the cathedral was turned into a bit of a building site, with a maze of scaffolds set up on the altar and transept.

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Scientists say they are nearly certain a lead coffin found beneath the transept is that of Joachim du Bellay, who died in Paris in 1560 at the age of about 37.

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Cashore spelled it correctly, then clinched the title with the word “transept,” an architectural term for the transverse part of a cross-shaped church.

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It was only possible to complete the apse, choir and transepts.

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