chapel

American  

[chap-uhl] / ˈtʃæp əl /

noun

• chapels
  plural

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chapels
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of chapel

1175–1225; Middle English chapele < Old French < Late Latin cappella hooded cloak, equivalent to capp ( a ) ( see 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

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Explanation

A chapel is a place of worship. It's usually smaller than a church, and it has its own altar. A chapel is a small place of worship. Chapels are Christian and are often part of a larger institution, such as a hospital or prison. Universities often have a chapel. A chapel is a place people pray and find community, or even get married. The song “Chapel of Love” was a big hit in the 1960’s. In it, The Dixie Cups sing, “going to the chapel and I’m gonna get married….”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chapel chapels chapelled

Not long ago, she and Peter Koskey got married, with the unfinished house as their wedding chapel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

Rome's Gemelli hospital is where popes are usually treated, and they stay in a special suite on the 10th floor, which has a small chapel, kitchen, bathroom and meeting room.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

The chapel that is 'secret but in plain sight'

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

When I played at Lancaster Catholic High School in Pennsylvania, I saw the “full-blooded” young men still meeting in the school chapel before games.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Tycho also quarrelled with some of his tenants on the mainland and got into trouble with the ruling Council for neglecting the maintenance of a chapel that formed part of his estates.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Homes were demolished, chapels flattened and communities displaced in Port Talbot when Wales' first stretch of motorway was built at a cost of more than £5m.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Looming over the colorless town is its hulking circa-1385 monastery, extended in convent courtyards and stately chapels with lofty naves, offering dazzling displays of stained glass.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

Weirdly — which is to say, in typical Therrien manner — the tables and chairs are not unlike those bird-flipping chapels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025

Especially in rural areas, parishes and chapels are left without priests, though the seminaries still have students so some faithful hope they will be able to eventually replace those exiled or forced to flee.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 11, 2024

During the summer of 1270 the chapels in the apse and most of the piers and buttresses of the choir were finished.

From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay

So, too, the chapelled choir, with its apse of rounded vaults rising in imposing tiers.

From The Cathedrals of Southern France by M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield

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Related Words

• church
• sanctuary
• shrine

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