sacristy

[sak-ri-stee]

noun

plural

sacristies 

1. an apartment in or a building connected with a church or a religious house, in which the sacred vessels, vestments, etc., are kept.

sacristy

/ ˈsækrɪstɪ /

noun

1. a room attached to a church or chapel where the sacred vessels, vestments, etc, are kept and where priests attire themselves

Word History and Origins

Origin of sacristy¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin sacristia vestry, equivalent to sacrist ( a ) ( sacristan ) + -ia -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of sacristy¹

C17: from Medieval Latin sacristia; see _sacristan

Example Sentences

There is still scaffolding around much of the eastern end, and in coming years the outside walls of the apse and sacristy will need treatment.

Read more on BBC

One sister recalled a time when she and another altar server accidentally spilled open a bag of already-consecrated Eucharist wafers as they were preparing for mass in the wood-paneled sacristy.

Read more on Salon

“It was a church that was not in the sacristy, but with the people.”

Read more on Seattle Times

“You could take the basilica to New York, but we are here,” he said in the sacristy, long after the day’s tourists had stopped wandering above.

Read more on Washington Times

The original tiles in the sacristy and in the baptistery were not able to be saved, however, because they were ruined by flooding in the aftermath of firefighting efforts.

Read more on Los Angeles Times