CHURCH

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does church mean? 

• CHURCH (noun)
  The noun CHURCH has 4 senses:

1. one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship

2. a place for public (especially Christian) worship

3. a service conducted in a house of worship

4. the body of people who attend or belong to a particular local church

  Familiarity information: CHURCH used as a noun is uncommon.

• CHURCH (verb)
  The verb CHURCH has 1 sense:

1. perform a special church rite or service for

  Familiarity information: CHURCH used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHURCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

Christian church; church

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

faith; organized religion; religion (an institution to express belief in a divine power)

Meronyms (members of "church"):

Christian (a religious person who believes Jesus is the Christ and who is a member of a Christian denomination)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "church"):

Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church; Armenian Church (an independent Christian church established in Armenia since 300; was influenced by both Roman and Byzantine traditions)

Catholic Church (any of several churches claiming to have maintained historical continuity with the original Christian Church)

Nestorian Church (a Christian Church in the Middle East that followed Nestorianism; there is still a small Nestorian Church in Iraq)

Coptic Church (the ancient Christian church of Egypt)

Protestant; Protestant Church (the Protestant churches and denominations collectively)

Unification Church (a Christian church (with some Buddhist elements) founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon and known for staging mass weddings and other communal activities)

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

Christendom; Christianity (the collective body of Christians throughout the world and history (found predominantly in Europe and the Americas and Australia))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A place for public (especially Christian) worship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

church; church building

Context example:

the church was empty

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

house of God; house of prayer; house of worship; place of worship (any building where congregations gather for prayer)

Meronyms (parts of "church"):

transept (structure forming the transverse part of a cruciform church; crosses the nave at right angles)

side chapel (a small chapel off the side aisle of a church)

bema; chancel; sanctuary (area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir; often enclosed by a lattice or railing)

rood screen (a screen in a church; separates the nave from the choir or chancel)

presbytery (building reserved for the officiating clergy)

sacristy; vestry (a room in a church where sacred vessels and vestments are kept or meetings are held)

narthex (a vestibule leading to the nave of a church)

lady chapel (a small chapel in a church; dedicated to the Virgin Mary)

church tower (the tower of a church)

apse; apsis (a domed or vaulted recess or projection on a building especially the east end of a church; usually contains the altar)

amen corner (area reserved for persons leading the responsive 'amens')

nave (the central area of a church)

Domain category:

church; church service (a service conducted in a house of worship)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "church"):

abbey (a church associated with a monastery or convent)

basilica (an early Christian church designed like a Roman basilica; or a Roman Catholic church or cathedral accorded certain privileges)

cathedral (any large and important church)

cathedral; duomo (the principal Christian church building of a bishop's diocese)

kirk (a Scottish church)

Derivation:

church (perform a special church rite or service for)

churchly (resembling or suggesting or appropriate to a church)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A service conducted in a house of worship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

church; church service

Context example:

don't be late for church

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

divine service; religious service; service (the act of public worship following prescribed rules)

Domain member category:

Divine Office (canonical prayers recited daily by priests (e.g. the breviary of the Roman Catholic Church))

official ((of a church) given official status as a national or state institution)

attend; go to (be present at (meetings, church services, university), etc.)

disestablish (deprive (an established church) of its status)

separationist; separatist (an advocate of secession or separation from a larger group (such as an established church or a national union))

High Anglican Church; High Church (a group in the Anglican Church that emphasizes the Catholic tradition (especially in sacraments and rituals and obedience to church authority))

Anglican Church; Anglican Communion; Church of England (the national church of England (and all other churches in other countries that share its beliefs); has its see in Canterbury and the sovereign as its temporal head)

discourse; preaching; sermon (an address of a religious nature (usually delivered during a church service))

Puritanism (the beliefs and practices characteristic of Puritans (most of whom were Calvinists who wished to purify the Church of England of its Catholic aspects))

spire; steeple (a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top)

hassock (a cushion for kneeling on (as when praying in church))

crypt (a cellar or vault or underground burial chamber (especially beneath a church))

church bell (a bell in a church tower (usually sounded to summon people to church))

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

banns (a public announcement of a proposed marriage)

Derivation:

church (perform a special church rite or service for)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The body of people who attend or belong to a particular local church

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

our church is hosting a picnic next week

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

body (a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity)

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

Christendom; Christianity (the collective body of Christians throughout the world and history (found predominantly in Europe and the Americas and Australia))

• CHURCH (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Perform a special church rite or service for

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

church a woman after childbirth

Hypernyms (to "church" is one way to...):

perform (perform a function)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

church (a service conducted in a house of worship)

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

 Context examples 

A courtesy title of reverence, as for church dignitaries, officers of monasteries, monks, confessors, and especially priests.

(Father, NCI Thesaurus)

Morning, dismal and wet, at length dawned and discovered to my sleepless and aching eyes the church of Ingolstadt, its white steeple and clock, which indicated the sixth hour.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

In crossing a field, I saw the church spire before me: I hastened towards it.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Do you mean to say, child, that any human being has gone into a Christian church, and got herself named Peggotty?” “It's her surname,” said my mother, faintly.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The populations grew and elaborate churches were constructed.

(Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests, University of Cambridge)

Six o’clock struck on the bells of the church that was so conveniently near to Mr. Utterson’s dwelling, and still he was digging at the problem.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It was a country of rolling moors, lonely and dun-coloured, with an occasional church tower to mark the site of some old-world village.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But it is to thy grosser feelings that we must turn in such natures as thine, and as thou art no longer under the shield of holy church there is the less difficulty.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is impossible to exclude them when the church is open.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

After a day or two, the sexton awoke him at midnight, and bade him arise and go up into the church tower and ring the bell.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)