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

The Great Pottery Throw Down judge Keith Brymer Jones has told how he and his partner are to marry in their north Wales chapel home after he proposed to her "on Welsh soil".

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

Leo will stay in a special top-floor suite at the Gemelli, complete with small chapel, kitchen and meeting room for medical staff.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 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

Because I could stand in the wind on the chapel roof and not tilt.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Readers accompany Muratov as he explores museums and chapels, squares and passageways in Italian cities both large and small.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Inmates watch television as they spend the night in one of the overcrowded Central Jail’s chapels on June 7, 1987.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2025

And yet the chapels, mosaics and gilded wood of Santa Maria Maggiore remain stunning.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 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

In college chapels I would listen to folk singing and see plain altars draped with bright applique banners: JOY!

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

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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