ciborium

American  

[si-bawr-ee-uhm, -bohr-] / sɪˈbɔr i əm, -ˈboʊr- /

noun

plural

ciboria

1. a permanent canopy placed over an altar; baldachin.

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

3. Archaic. a severy.

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ciborium British  

/ sɪˈbɔːrɪəm /

noun

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

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

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Etymology

Origin of ciborium

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

Example Sentences

At St. Alphonsa’s on Monday, the police said they believed the break-in was a burglary, and noted that a DVD player was taken with the two ceremonial vessels, a monstrance and a ciborium.

From New York Times • Feb. 2, 2015

Its next choice, a ciborium given to “France or Germany” and assigned a date in the late 14th or early 15th century, was less inspired.

From New York Times • Nov. 18, 2011

Although many U. S. Catholics consider him a self- possessed, even arrogant man, his voice choked when he presented to Archbishop O'Doherty the Pope's gift to the Congress, a gold ciborium.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the first of the Schatzkammer's ten rooms stands a gaunt, Carolingian ciborium, or altar canopy, wrought in gold for King Arnulf of Carinthia about A.D.

From Time Magazine Archive

An exquisite ciborium fetched �6000 at the sale of the Jerdone Braikenridge collection at Christie’s in 1908.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various