Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The space around the altar of a church for the clergy and sometimes the choir, often enclosed by a lattice or railing.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Eccles., the inclosed space in a church surrounding the altar, and railed off from the choir; the sanctuary.
- noun An inclosed space railed off in courts of judicature.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun That part of a church, reserved for the use of the clergy, where the altar, or communion table, is placed.
- noun All that part of a cruciform church which is beyond the line of the transept farthest from the main front.
- noun (Arch.) the aisle which passes on either side of or around the chancel.
- noun (Arch.) the arch which spans the main opening, leading to the chancel.
- noun the principal window in a chancel.
- noun the communion table.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The space around the altar in a church, often enclosed, for use by the
clergy and thechoir . In medieval cathedrals the chancel was usually enclosed or blocked off from thenave by analtar screen .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir; often enclosed by a lattice or railing
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word chancel.
Examples
-
These walls were called cancelli, hence the English word "chancel".
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 3: Brownson-Clairvaux 1840-1916 1913
-
If you remember, each corner of the chancel, is supported by a large brick buttress.
Letter 2 2009
-
In a later time the name chancel came to be applied to the presbyterium itself.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 3: Brownson-Clairvaux 1840-1916 1913
-
The chancel is short, there are no quire aisles, and the transept apses were rounded externally.
-
There are two tombs in the body of the place; but none in the chancel, which is bare, except for the tall candlesticks, and the chancel rail, beyond which is the undraped altar of solid marble, upon which stand four small candlesticks, two at each end.
-
These could be identified as chancel piers, the vertical elements that held the plates closing off the chancel or bema, i.e. the area around the altar at the eastern end of a church.
-
At the side of the chancel was a new idol: a heavy, seated figure of Huitzilopochtli, done in black lava stone.
The Plumed Serpent 2003
-
The sound of the monks chanting the service of sext in the chancel was a low murmur like the rushing of a distant waterfall.
The Pillars of the Earth FOLLETT, Ken 1989
-
Beyond the crossing, the east end of the church was called the chancel, and was mainly reserved for the monks.
The Pillars of the Earth FOLLETT, Ken 1989
-
The east end was called the chancel and it was shorter than the nave.
The Pillars of the Earth FOLLETT, Ken 1989
bilby commented on the word chancel
"He hurled the mirror fragments into the chancel." - 'Lanark', Alasdair Gray.
December 4, 2007