feretory

American  

[fer-i-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈfɛr ɪˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

• feretories
  plural

1. a container for the relics of a saint; reliquary.

2. an enclosure or area within a church where such a reliquary is kept.

3. a portable bier or shrine.

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feretory British  

/ ˈfɛrɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. a shrine, usually portable, for a saint's relics

2. the chapel in which a shrine is kept

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• feretories
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of feretory

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English fertre, feretory, firetree, from Old French fiertre, from Latin feretrum, from Greek phė́retron “bier, litter”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

feretory feretories

As one passes beyond the feretory through the retro-choir, the Chantry of William Waynflete stands to the north of the central alley.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See by Philip Walsingham Sergeant

The great Reredos, which separates the presbytery from the feretory and the eastern end of the church, is, to judge from its style, late fifteenth-century work.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See by Philip Walsingham Sergeant

The entire feretory was overlaid with gold and crusted with gems.

From The Yoke A Romance of the Days when the Lord Redeemed the Children of Israel from the Bondage of Egypt by Elizabeth Miller

A moment's silence, before all the voices, gathering into one harmony, sent the last versicle ringing through the arches of the choir, and the springing tracery of the feretory, and of the Lady Chapel beyond.

From The Case of Richard Meynell by Mrs. Humphry Ward

At one time, before the erection of the reredos, the feretory must have been visible from the choir.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See by Philip Walsingham Sergeant

Of crosses, paxes, censers, pixes, feretories, candelabra, monstrances, lamps, &c., he scattered specimens broadcast throughout Spain.

From An Architect's Note-Book in Spain principally illustrating the domestic architecture of that country. by Matthew Digby Wyatt

Then, to please the females, he described to them the reliquaries, feretories, calices, crosiers, crosses, pyxes, monstrances, and other wonders ecclesiastical, and the goblets, hanaps, watches, Clocks, chains, brooches, &c., so that their mouths watered.

From The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade

Then to please the females, he described to them the reliquaries, feretories, calices, crosiers, crosses, pyxes, monstrances, and other wonders ecclesiastical, and the goblets, hanaps, watches, clocks, chains, brooches, &c., so that their mouths watered.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Charles Reade

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