chapel
[ chap-uh l ]
/ ˈtʃæp əl /
noun
verb (used with object), chap·eled, chap·el·ing or (especially British) chap·elled, chap·el·ling.
Nautical. to maneuver (a sailing vessel taken aback) by the helm alone until the wind can be recovered on the original tack.
adjective
(in England) belonging to any of various dissenting Protestant sects.
Nearby words
chapati, chapbook, chape, chapeau, chapeau bras, chapel, chapel de fer, chapel hill, chapel of ease, chapelry, chaperon
Origin of chapel
1175–1225; Middle English chapele < Old French < Late Latin cappella hooded cloak, equivalent to capp(a) (see cap1) + -ella diminutive suffix; first applied to the sanctuary where the cloak of St. Martin (4th-century bishop of Tours) was kept as a relic
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for chapel
British Dictionary definitions for chapel
chapel
/ (ˈtʃæpəl) /
noun
Word Origin for chapel
C13: from Old French chapele, from Late Latin cappella, diminutive of cappa cloak (see cap); originally denoting the sanctuary where the cloak of St Martin of Tours was kept as a relic
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for chapel
chapel
early 13c., from Old French chapele (12c., Modern French chapelle), from Medieval Latin cappella "chapel, sanctuary for relics," literally "little cape," diminutive of Late Latin cappa "cape" (see cap (n.)); by tradition, originally in reference to the sanctuary in France in which the miraculous cape of St. Martin of Tours, patron saint of France, was preserved; meaning extended in most European languages to "any sanctuary." (While serving Rome as a soldier deployed in Gaul, Martin cut his military coat in half to share it with a ragged beggar. That night, Martin dreamed Christ wearing the half-cloak; the half Martin kept was the relic.)
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper