offertory
Americannoun
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offertories
plural
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(sometimes initial capital letter) the offering of the unconsecrated elements that is made to God by the celebrant in a Eucharistic service.
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Ecclesiastical.
noun
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the oblation of the bread and wine at the Eucharist
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the offerings of the worshippers at this service
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the prayers said or sung while the worshippers' offerings are being received
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of offertory
1350–1400; Middle English offertorie < Medieval Latin offertōrium place to which offerings are brought, offering, oblation, equivalent to Latin offer ( re ) ( see offer) + -tōrium -tory 2; cf. oblation
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.
See Examples For:
As the priest then began the offertory portion of the liturgy, which often is accompanied by quiet music, the organist played a reflective piece very slowly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
Whidden, a tenor, sang an offertory song titled “The Anchor Holds.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2025
The service itself incorporated many Indigenous elements and peoples, including an emotional moment when a woman in Native dress wept in front of Francis as she brought him the offertory gifts.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 28, 2022
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales also says there should be no offertory procession or collection, and parishioners should be encouraged to give online instead.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2020
Sister read Doña Laura's note explaining that this was an offertory bank, and everyone got to work a penny in the cloud and watch the little figure rise.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
These offertories varied from the simplest, such as milk and fruits, to the costliest, such as gold and jewels.
From India: What can it teach us? A Course of Lectures Delivered before the University Of Cambridge by Alexander Wilder
The latter seems to have felt a strange fascination towards the eloquent preacher, tried to attach him to his court, was frequent in his attendance at San Marco, and gave largely to his offertories.
From John the Baptist by F. B. (Frederick Brotherton) Meyer
I venture to say that a parish which confines its offertories to local and parochial purposes will lose by the very contraction of its sympathies.
From Churchwardens' Manual their duties, powers, rights, and privilages by George Henry Sumner
Father Burrowes was even more successful as a preacher than he hoped; ascribing the steady flow of offertories to Divine favour, he instituted during the next four years, priories at Aldershot and Sandgate.
From The Altar Steps by Compton MacKenzie
I take great exception to your statement that the offertories both in the morning and in the evening were sent by me to Father Rowley regardless of the wishes of my parishioners.
From The Altar Steps by Compton MacKenzie
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.
