Calvary
noun
Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified.
Calvary
American
[kal-vuh-ree]
/ ˈkæl və ri /
noun
Calvaries
plural
-
Bible. Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified.
-
Often calvary a sculptured representation of the Crucifixion, usually erected in the open air.
-
none calvary an experience or occasion of extreme suffering, especially mental suffering.
Calvary
1
British
/ ˈkælvərɪ /
noun
calvary
2
British
/ ˈkælvərɪ /
noun
-
(often capital) a representation of Christ's crucifixion, usually sculptured and in the open air
-
any experience involving great suffering
Calvary
Cultural
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
The dim Chapel of Calvary held a mournful mural of Jesus lying arms outspread and dead on the cross after it was taken down and laid on the ground.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
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
They was calvary men camped back of our field.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 6 by Work Projects Administration
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
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 McManus, Blanche
Long their gaze clung, filled with unspeakable things, things that were high as Heaven itself, that pass only between men clean of heart on the Calvaries of earth.
From The Maid of the Whispering Hills by Roe, Vingie E. (Vingie Eve)
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 Spence, Lewis
A district in the island of Lewis, Outer Hebrides; mentioned, 53 Calvaries.
From Legends & Romances of Brittany by Spence, Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
