monstrance
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of monstrance
1250–1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin mōnstrantia, equivalent to mōnstr ( āre ) to show ( see muster) + -antia -ance
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Each procession is being led by a priest holding a monstrance — typically a sunburst-patterned vessel that displays the host, or bread wafer consecrated by a priest at Mass.
From Seattle Times • May 19, 2024
At LACMA, a stunning silver monstrance, sumptuous church vestment embroidery, boxes inlaid with bone and tortoiseshell, and carved wooden trays painted in a dense profusion of floral patterns draw the comparison.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2022
Presiding would have required standing, kneeling and holding aloft a monstrance, a heavy gold vessel used to hold the communion host during vespers.
From Reuters • Dec. 31, 2021
Juan, who moved to the United States from Mexico in 1978, stares at the monstrance.
From Washington Post • Aug. 29, 2011
Upon the high altar stood a golden monstrance in the shape of a sunburst, at the center of which—exposed through a tiny window— was the round wafer of bread.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
