chapel

[chap-uhl]

noun

1. a private or subordinate place of prayer or worship; oratory.

2. a separately dedicated part of a church, or a small independent churchlike edifice, devoted to special services.

3. a room or building for worship in an institution, palace, etc.

4. (in Great Britain) a place of worship for members of various dissenting Protestant churches, as Baptists or Methodists.

5. a separate place of public worship dependent on the church of a parish.

6. a religious service in a chapel.

   Don't be late for chapel!

7. a funeral home or the room in which funeral services are held.

8. a choir or orchestra of a chapel, court, etc.

9. a print shop or printing house.

10. an association of employees in a print shop for dealing with their interests, problems, etc.

verb (used with object)

chapeled, chapeling , chapelled, chapelling .

1. Nautical.,  to maneuver (a sailing vessel taken aback) by the helm alone until the wind can be recovered on the original tack.

adjective

1. (in England) belonging to any of various dissenting Protestant sects.

chapel

/ ˈtʃæpəl /

noun

1. a place of Christian worship in a larger building, esp a place set apart, with a separate altar, in a church or cathedral

2. a similar place of worship in or attached to a large house or institution, such as a college, hospital or prison

3. a church subordinate to a parish church

4. 1. a Nonconformist place of worship

   2. Nonconformist religious practices or doctrine

   3. ( as adjective ) Compare church

      he is chapel, but his wife is church

5. (in Scotland) a Roman Catholic church

6. the members of a trade union in a particular newspaper office, printing house, etc

7. a printing office

Word History and Origins

Origin of chapel¹

1175–1225; Middle English chapele < Old French < Late Latin cappella hooded cloak, equivalent to capp ( a ) ( cap ¹ ) + -ella diminutive suffix; first applied to the sanctuary where the cloak of St. Martin (4th-century bishop of Tours) was kept as a relic

Word History and Origins

Origin of chapel¹

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

Example Sentences

Its Las Vegas Strip location features spiked Twisted Freezes, and an in-house wedding chapel.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

While in school he attended Episcopal chapel; he completed his metamorphosis by marrying the scion of a prominent Milwaukee family that was established in colonial Virginia in the 17th century.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There was no dense and mysterious forest nearby, only bright orchards of fruit trees arranged in tidy rows, and the spires of Swanburne’s chapel were visible for miles around.

Read more on Literature

We would walk through its tree-lined campus, peek into college classrooms, and admire its magnificent chapel with its vaulted ceiling, grand columns, and multicolored stained glass.

Read more on Literature

We next enter a fictive chapel, with the Latin rite being celebrated by a set of crimson vestments and an altar cloth, made in Paris in 1619 and given by Louis XIII.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• church 
• sanctuary 
• shrine