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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

church

/t͡ʃɜːt͡ʃ/
A Christian house of worship; a building where Christian religious services take place.

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    • meaning component
    • sound component
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    Origin

    From Middle English chirche, from Old English ċiriċe (“church”), from Proto-West Germanic *kirikā, an early borrowing of Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón), neuter form of κυριακός (kuriakós, “belonging to the lord”), from κύριος (kúrios, “ruler, lord”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, spread out, be strong, prevail”). Doublet of kirk.

    Additional etymological information

    For vowel evolution, see bury. Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón) was used of houses of Christian worship since circa 300 CE, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “congregation”) or βασιλική (basilikḗ, “royal thing”). An example of the direct Greek-to-Germanic progress of many Christian words, possibly via the Goths; it was probably used by West Germanic people in their pre-Christian period. Cognate with Scots kirk (“church”), West Frisian tsjerke (“church”), Saterland Frisian Säärke (“church”), Dutch kerk (“church”), German Kirche (“church”), Danish kirke (“church”), Swedish kyrka (“church”), Norwegian Bokmål kirke, Norwegian Nynorsk kyrkje (“church”), and Faroese and Icelandic kirkja (“church”). Also picked up by Slavic, via Old High German chirihha (compare Old Church Slavonic црькꙑ (crĭky), Bulgarian църква (cărkva), Russian це́рковь (cérkovʹ)). Romance and Celtic languages use descendants of Latin ecclēsia.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishchirche “church”
      • inheritedOld Englishċiriċe “church”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*kirikā
          • borrowedKoine Greekκῡρῐᾰκόν
            • derivedKoine Greekκῡριακός
              • partAncient Greekκῡ́ριος “lord, master”
                • inheritedProto-Hellenic*kúrios
                  • inheritedProto-Indo-European*ḱuh₁ryós
              • partAncient Greek-ακός “-ic”
                • derivedAncient Greek-κός
                  • inheritedProto-Hellenic*-kos
                    • inheritedProto-Indo-European*-kos “forming desubstantival adjectives”
            • partAncient Greek-ον
    • rootProto-Indo-European*ḱewh₁- “vault, hole”
    • derivedEnglishSaint “A title given to a saint, often prefixed to the person's name.”
      • derivedEnglishsaint “A deceased person whom a church or another religious group has officially recognised as especially …”
        • inheritedMiddle Englishsaint
        • inheritedMiddle Englishsaynten

    Related: English kirk (doublet), Scots kirk, West Frisian tsjerke, Saterland Frisian Säärke, Dutch kerk, German Kirche, Danish kirke, Swedish kyrka, Norwegian Bokmål kirke, Norwegian Nynorsk kyrkje, fo,is kirkja, Old High German chirihha, Old Church Slavonic црькꙑ, Bulgarian църква, Russian це́рковь

    Words built on it: the

    Meanings

    noun
    1. A Christian house of worship; a building where Christian religious services take place.
    2. Christians collectively seen as a single spiritual community; Christianity; Christendom.
    3. A local group of people who follow the same Christian religious beliefs, local or general.
    4. A particular denomination of Christianity.
    5. Christian worship held at a church; service.
    6. Organized religion in general or a specific religion considered as a political institution.
    verb
    1. To conduct a religious service for (a woman after childbirth, or a newly married couple).
    2. To educate someone religiously, as in a church.
    intj
    1. Used to express strong agreement.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: church