church

¹ American  

[church] / tʃɜrtʃ /

noun

1. a building for public Christian worship.

2. public Christian worship of God; a Christian religious service.

   They attend church regularly.

   What time does your church start?

3. none the church or the Church, the whole body of Christian believers.

4. Sometimes Church. any organized group of Christian believers professing the same creed and acknowledging the same ecclesiastical authority; a Christian denomination.

   the Methodist Church.

5. that part of the whole Christian body, or of a particular denomination, belonging to the same city, country, nation, etc..

   The African church was well represented at the international ecumenical conference.

6. a body of Christians worshipping in a particular building or constituting one congregation.

   She is a member of this church.

7. ecclesiastical organization, power, and affairs, as distinguished from the state.

   The separation of church and state is entrenched in the U.S. Constitution.

8. the clergy and religious officials of a Christian denomination.

   The missionary went wherever the church sent him.

9. the Christian faith.

   The early 20th century saw the return of many intellectuals to the church.

10. none the church or the Church, the organized body of professing Christians before the Reformation.

    In a.d. 325, Constantine summoned the leaders of the Church to a conference at Nicaea.

11. the Church, the Roman Catholic Church.

12. the clerical profession or calling.

    After much study and contemplation, he was prepared to enter the church.

13. Sometimes Offensive. any non-Christian religious society, organization, or congregation, or its place of public worship.

    He is part of a Satanist church.

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verb (used with object)

1. to conduct or bring to church, especially for special services.

2. South Midland and Southern U.S. to subject to church discipline.

3. to perform a church service of thanksgiving for (a woman after childbirth).

Church ² American  

[church] / tʃɜrtʃ /

noun

1. Frederick Edwin, 1826–1900, U.S. painter.

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church ¹ British  

/ tʃɜːtʃ /

noun

1. a building designed for public forms of worship, esp Christian worship

2. an occasion of public worship

3. the clergy as distinguished from the laity

4. (usually capital) institutionalized forms of religion as a political or social force

   conflict between Church and State

5. (usually capital) the collective body of all Christians

6. (often capital) a particular Christian denomination or group of Christian believers

7. (often capital) the Christian religion

8. (in Britain) the practices or doctrines of the Church of England and similar denominations Compare chapel

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verb

1. Church of England to bring (someone, esp a woman after childbirth) to church for special ceremonies

2. to impose church discipline upon

Church ² British  

/ tʃɜːtʃ /

noun

1. Charlotte. born 1986, Welsh soprano, who made her name with the album Voice of an Angel (1998) when she was 12

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church Cultural  

1. A group of Christians (see also Christian); church is a biblical word for “assembly.” It can mean any of the following: (1) All Christians, living and dead. (See saints.) (2) All Christians living in the world. (3) One of the large divisions or denominations of Christianity, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, Methodist Church, or Roman Catholic Church. (4) An individual congregation of Christians meeting in one building; also the building itself.

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church Idioms  

1. see poor as a churchmouse.

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Other Word Forms

• antichurch adjective
• nonchurch noun
• prochurch adjective

Etymology

Origin of church

First recorded before 900; Middle English chir(i)che, Old English cir(i)ce, ultimately from Greek kȳri(a)kón (dôma) “the Lord's (house),” neuter of kȳriakós “of the master,” from kȳ́ri(os) “master” (from kŷr(os) “power” + -ios, noun suffix) + -akos (variant of -ikos -ic ); akin to Dutch kerk, German Kirche, Old Norse kirkja; kirk

Example Sentences

Some converts had practical reasons: marrying into the church, the examples of close family and friends, or a more general social contagion.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

The water washed away some two dozen low-lying houses, a church and part of a mosque.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Their content focuses on motherhood and their relationship with the church mixed with dancing and skits.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Pusztavacs, which has 1,300 inhabitants, received state support to renovate its cemetery and church and got its first automatic cash machine last year as part of a government law to install machines in all villages.

From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026

When they lived in New Jersey, there had been a local fair in the grounds behind a church that Pili had taken Danny to.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Related Words

• chapel
• mosque
• parish
• sanctuary
• shrine
• synagogue
• temple