transept
Americannoun
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any major transverse part of the body of a church, usually crossing the nave, at right angles, at the entrance to the choir.
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an arm of this, on either side of the central aisle of a church.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of transept
From the Anglo-Latin word trānseptum, dating back to 1530–40. See trans-, septum
Explanation
A transept is the section of a building that runs perpendicular to its main part, forming a kind of cross shape. Many transepts are found in churches. If you can remember that trans, "across" in Latin, sometimes conveys the idea of "cross," you've nailed this one: it's the cross part in a cross-shaped church, the other section being the "nave." The Latin word saeptum forms the end of transept. It means "fence or enclosure." You're most likely to come across a transept in a Romanesque or Gothic church, although it can also mean a hall or wing that crosses the main part of a building.
Vocabulary lists containing transept
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Faith Leaders and Representatives are led to places in the North Transept.
From BBC • May 5, 2023
Other literary greats to be commemorated in Westminster Abbey's South Transept are Samuel Johnson, John Keats and the Bronte sisters.
From BBC • Nov. 22, 2013
Here’s the Archbishop of York atop a stepladder, carefully piling grapefruit in neat pyramids in the North Transept.
From Slate
Rose Window from the Transept of Lincoln Cathedral 50 21.
From Architecture Gothic and Renaissance by Smith, T. Roger (Thomas Roger)
For Cimabue's Madonna on the right wall of the Transept see chapter v. p.
From The Story of Assisi by Gordon, Lina Duff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
