chancel
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chancel
1275–1325; Middle English < Middle French < Late Latin cancellus lattice, railing or screen before the altar of a church, Latin cancell ( ī ) (plural) lattice, railing, grating; see cancel
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.
By turns mournful and joyous, the instrument energized congregations and fostered a call and response between the chancel and the pews.
From Washington Post • Jun. 16, 2020
The coffins have been left undisturbed, though builders have installed a glass panel in the chancel floor above them for visitors to catch a glimpse.
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2017
Two of the three faces in the church’s chancel windows portraying St. Paul, St. John and Christ knocking at the door were cracked and had to be sent to England.
From Washington Times • Mar. 13, 2017
At Jamestown I learned that the communion table stood in the chancel, and it was therefore the holiest spot in the church, and only the most important people in the community were buried beneath it.
From Slate • Aug. 4, 2015
Hearing a cautious step behind me, I glanced over my shoulder: one of the strangers—a gentleman, evidently—was advancing up the chancel.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
