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altarpiece

American

[awl-ter-pees] / ˈɔl tərˌpis /

noun

a painted or carved screen behind or above the altar or communion table in Christian churches; reredos.

altarpiece British

/ ˈɔːltəˌpiːs /

noun

a work of art set above and behind an altar; a reredos

"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 altarpiece

First recorded in 1635–45; altar + piece

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.

Art historians have long believed that the nine panels originally formed an altarpiece at Vyšší Brod.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025

St Johns' Almshouse, in Sherborne, Dorset, said it received the shock news after giving the altarpiece to Sotheby's auction house for safekeeping during renovation work.

From BBC • Nov. 14, 2025

The wings, Israels said, would have been scraped off when the altarpiece was disassembled and the wing fragments would no longer have made sense.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 19, 2024

Talavera poblana pottery, with its beautiful fusion of Chinese, Moorish and Indigenous influences, is unrepresented, and an elaborate altarpiece would be a good addition, if tough to find.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2022

The guards whispered that a Rembrandt was in there, and pieces of a famous altarpiece from Cracow.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

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