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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.

Nearby words

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

At first the apsidal east end, common in the Norman times, was retained.
Architecture|Thomas Roger Smith
On the east side of the transept were formerly two apsidal chapels, but all traces of these have been removed.
The Cathedrals of Great Britain|P. H. Ditchfield
An apsidal chapel projects from each arm of the transept, as in the Romanesque edifices of the region.
How France Built Her Cathedrals|Elizabeth Boyle O'Reilly
The foundations of a small chapel with apsidal eastern termination have been discovered outside the castle.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4|Various

This is a vaulted church, with an apsidal east end and transepts.
Architecture|Thomas Roger Smith

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).