CHANCEL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does chancel mean? 

• CHANCEL (noun)
  The noun CHANCEL has 1 sense:

1. area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir; often enclosed by a lattice or railing

  Familiarity information: CHANCEL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHANCEL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir; often enclosed by a lattice or railing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bema; chancel; sanctuary

Hypernyms ("chancel" is a kind of...):

area (a part of a structure having some specific characteristic or function)

Meronyms (parts of "chancel"):

choir (the area occupied by singers; the part of the chancel between sanctuary and nave)

Holonyms ("chancel" is a part of...):

church; church building (a place for public (especially Christian) worship)

 Context examples 

Hearing a cautious step behind me, I glanced over my shoulder: one of the strangers—a gentleman, evidently—was advancing up the chancel.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Or was the vault under the chancel of Gateshead Church an inviting bourne?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)