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[aps]

noun

Architecture. a semicircular or polygonal termination or recess in a building, usually vaulted and used especially at the end of a choir in a church.

Astronomy. an apsis.

Origin of apse

First recorded in 1815–25; variant of apsis

Related formsap·si·dal

[ap-si-dl] /ˈæp sɪ dl/, adjectiveap·si·dal·ly, adverb

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

Examples from the Web for apsidal

Historical Examples of apsidal

The churches are usually small, and have an apsidal east end.
Architecture
Thomas Roger Smith
In Germany, however, apsidal transepts (Fig. 178) were built.
Architecture
Thomas Roger Smith
Further, the chancel at Bradford is rectangular, not apsidal.
The Ground Plan of the English Parish Church
A. Hamilton Thompson
Assuming that the choir was not apsidal but square, we get the same result.
Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys
Dugald Butler and Herbert Story
These are all apsidal, but planned in the usual way and not as at the Frari.
Brick and Marble in the Middle Ages
George Edmund Street

British Dictionary definitions for apsidal

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noun

Also called: apsis a domed or vaulted semicircular or polygonal recess, esp at the east end of a church

astronomy another name for apsis (def. 1)

Derived Formsapsidal (æpˈsaɪdəl, ˈæpsɪdəl), adjective

Word Origin for apse

C19: from Latin apsis, from Greek: a fitting together, arch, from haptein to fasten

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

Word Origin and History for apsidal

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"semicircular extension at the end of a church," 1846, from Latin apsis "an arch, a vault," from Greek hapsis (Ionic apsis) "loop, arch," originally "a fastening, felloe of a wheel," from haptein "fasten together," of unknown origin. The original sense in Greek seems to have been the joining of the arcs to form a circle, especially in making a wheel. The architectural term is earlier attested in English in the Latin form (1706).