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

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”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

feretory feretories

It was originally encased in a wonderful feretory, made of pure gold and decorated with golden and jewelled images of kings and queens, of saints and angels.

From Westminster Abbey by Fulleylove, John

The feretory made by Abbot Geoffrey still contained the bones of the martyr; this was now covered by the work of Abbot Symeon, which was made of large size so as to contain the other.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Albans With an Account of the Fabric & a Short History of the Abbey by Perkins, Thomas, Rev.

Sir Robert Smirke in 1807 put up work which consisted chiefly of panelling, which was affixed to the easternmost wall of the feretory.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Gloucester [2nd ed.] A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See by Massé, H. J. L. J. (Henri Jean Louis Joseph)

The feretory no doubt had a reredos at this point, but what the type of this earlier arrangement may have been it is impossible exactly to tell.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Chichester (1901) A Short History & Description Of Its Fabric With An Account Of The Diocese And See by Corlette, Hubert C. (Hubert Christian)

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 Sergeant, Philip Walsingham

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 Wyatt, Matthew Digby

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 Reade, Charles

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 Reade, Charles