altar cloth

noun

a cloth covering for an altar.

Nearby words

altar board, altar boy, altar bread, altar call, altar card, altar cloth, altar girl, altar of repose, altar rail, altar server, altar stone

Origin of altar cloth

Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for altar cloth

Kirstie had begun her ties, and Jean the altar-cloth, again.
Red Hair|Elinor Glyn
The priest kissed the altar-cloth, clasped his hands, and multiplied signs of the cross over host and chalice.
Abbe Mouret's Transgression|Emile Zola
The kneeling piece, which projects from under the folds of the altar-cloth, is of dark wood highly polished.
The Saxons|Edwin Davies Schoonmaker
Towel, tow′el, n. a cloth for wiping the skin after it is washed, and for other purposes: an altar-cloth.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various

The altar-cloth one, Jean, is my age, the other three are older.
Red Hair|Elinor Glyn

British Dictionary definitions for altar cloth

altar cloth

noun

Christianity the cloth used for covering an altar: often applied also to the frontal

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012