altar cloth

American

noun

a cloth covering for an altar.

altar cloth British

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

Etymology

Origin of altar cloth

Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200

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.

We next enter a fictive chapel, with the Latin rite being celebrated by a set of crimson vestments and an altar cloth, made in Paris in 1619 and given by Louis XIII.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025

An altar cloth with embroidered pictures of Mary and Jesus was strewn with pieces of paint from the ceiling.

From Reuters • Feb. 25, 2023

As he walks through Holy Trinity, he attends to the smallest details, the positioning of flowers, the folding of the altar cloth.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2020

Under a statue of the Virgin, the altar cloth is still stained with blood.

From BBC • Feb. 11, 2010

Ugwu did not pay close attention to who was there, though, because, as he stared at the shabby white altar cloth, he imagined that he was getting married.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023