ciborium

[ si-bawr-ee-uh m, -bohr- ]

/ sɪˈbɔr i əm, -ˈboʊr- /

noun, plural ci·bo·ri·a [si-bawr-ee-uh, -bohr-] /sɪˈbɔr i ə, -ˈboʊr-/.

a permanent canopy placed over an altar; baldachin.

any container designed to hold the consecrated bread or sacred wafers for the Eucharist.

Archaic. a severy.

Nearby words

cib., cibarium, cibber, cibber, colley, cibola, ciborium, cica, cicada, cicada killer, cicala, cicatrectomy

Origin of ciborium

1645–55; < Latin: drinking-cup < Greek kibṓrion literally, the seed vessel of the Egyptian lotus, which the cup apparently resembled

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ciborium

The work is so far inferior to the ciborium at Valpolicella, that it would seem to be, as Cattaneo remarks, by an earlier hand.
The Cathedral Builders|Leader Scott
On the right of the entrance is a ciborium by Mino da Fiesole.
Walks in Rome|Augustus J.C. Hare
When Sister Julie opened the tabernacle she found the ciborium pierced with bullet holes.
Current History, A Monthly Magazine|New York Times
A typical example is the ciborium and chalice belonging to the South Kensington loan collection.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3|Various

At the centre of the chord stood the high altar beneath a ciborium, resting on four pillars of porphyry.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 3|Various

British Dictionary definitions for ciborium

ciborium

/ (sɪˈbɔːrɪəm) /

noun plural -ria (-rɪə) Christianity

a goblet-shaped lidded vessel used to hold consecrated wafers in Holy Communion

a freestanding canopy fixed over an altar and supported by four pillars

Word Origin for ciborium

C17: from Medieval Latin, from Latin: drinking cup, from Greek kibōrion cup-shaped seed vessel of the Egyptian lotus, hence, a cup

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012