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  • Calvary
    Calvary
    noun
    Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified.
  • calvary
    calvary
    noun
    (often capital) a representation of Christ's crucifixion, usually sculptured and in the open air
Synonyms

Calvary

American  
[kal-vuh-ree] / ˈkæl və ri /

noun

  • Calvaries
    plural
  1. Bible. Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified.

  2. Often calvary a sculptured representation of the Crucifixion, usually erected in the open air.

  3. none calvary an experience or occasion of extreme suffering, especially mental suffering.


Calvary 1 British  
/ ˈkælvərɪ /

noun

  1. Also called: Golgotha. the place just outside the walls of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified

"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

calvary 2 British  
/ ˈkælvərɪ /

noun

  1. (often capital) a representation of Christ's crucifixion, usually sculptured and in the open air

  2. any experience involving great suffering

"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

Calvary Cultural  
  1. The hill near Jerusalem (see also Jerusalem) on which Jesus was crucified. The name is Latin for “Place of the Skull”; it is also called Golgotha. (See Crucifixion.)


Pronunciation

See irrelevant.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of Calvary

First recorded before 1000; from Late Latin Calvāria “Calvary,” from Latin calvāria “a skull,” used to translate Greek kraníon cranium, itself a translation of the Aramaic name; see Golgotha


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.

See Examples For:

Pioneer Park used to be Calvary cemetery once upon a time.

From Salon ● May 9, 2026

At the Calvary Baptist Church in Minneapolis, the doors swung open and shut as locals sought refuge from the biting cold on Sunday.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026

At the site where he was killed in south Minneapolis, close to the Calvary Baptist Church, mourners gathered at all hours to lay flowers and light candles in his honour.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026

Firebaugh, 25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 12-25, 15-13 Downey Calvary Chapel d.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2025

Francie believed with all her heart that the altar was Calvary and that again Jesus was offered up as a sacrifice.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Ms. Haley arrived at the high school with her own calvary.

From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024

Jessie Sheehan, on the other hand, skips the oats and calls in pecans, and a calvary of spices including ginger and nutmeg.

From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2022

So began a calvary of severe fatigue, brain fog, imbalance and other symptoms that are still with her eight months later.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2021

His calvary - his enemies would say "deceit" - goes back to 2006.

From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2016

An impassioned mother, she had been ascending her calvary ever since her son's death.

From Fruitfulness by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly

Dangerous passions of pride, hatred and selfishness are enthroned in our lives; truth lies prostrate on the rugged hills of nameless Calvaries.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ascending the mountain by a well-beaten path, we passed a number of "Calvaries" filled with tattered saints and Virgins, and soon came upon the rim of a flattened bowl quite clasped by the mountains.

From The Glaciers of the Alps Being a narrative of excursions and ascents, etc. by John Tyndall

The Bretons are commonly accredited as being a most devout race, and certainly devotion could take no more marked turn than the many evidences here to be seen in this "land of Calvaries."

From The Cathedrals of Northern France by Blanche McManus

Calvaries, or representations of the passion on the Cross, are most frequently encountered in Brittany, so much so, indeed, that it has been called ‘the Land of the Calvaries.’

From Legends & Romances of Brittany by Lewis Spence

Perhaps the cheapest Continental tour, of say three weeks, that could be taken, amid a constantly changing environment, if one so choose, would comprehend this land of Calvaries.

From The Cathedrals of Northern France by Blanche McManus

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