chapel

[ chap-uhl ]

noun

1. a private or subordinate place of prayer or worship; oratory.
2. a separately dedicated part of a church, or a small independent churchlike edifice, devoted to special services.
3. a room or building for worship in an institution, palace, etc.
4. (in Great Britain) a place of worship for members of various dissenting Protestant churches, as Baptists or Methodists.
5. a separate place of public worship dependent on the church of a parish.
6. a religious service in a chapel:

   Don't be late for chapel!

7. a funeral home or the room in which funeral services are held.
8. a choir or orchestra of a chapel, court, etc.
9. a print shop or printing house.
10. an association of employees in a print shop for dealing with their interests, problems, etc.

verb (used with object)

, chap·eled, chap·el·ing or (especially British) chap·elled, chap·el·ling.

1. Nautical. to maneuver (a sailing vessel taken aback) by the helm alone until the wind can be recovered on the original tack.

adjective

1. (in England) belonging to any of various dissenting Protestant sects.

chapel

/ ˈtʃæpəl /

noun

1. a place of Christian worship in a larger building, esp a place set apart, with a separate altar, in a church or cathedral
2. a similar place of worship in or attached to a large house or institution, such as a college, hospital or prison
3. a church subordinate to a parish church
4. in Britain
   1. a Nonconformist place of worship
   2. Nonconformist religious practices or doctrine
   3. ( as adjective ) Compare church

      he is chapel, but his wife is church

5. (in Scotland) a Roman Catholic church
6. the members of a trade union in a particular newspaper office, printing house, etc
7. a printing office

Word History and Origins

Origin of chapel¹

1175–1225; Middle English chapele < Old French < Late Latin cappella hooded cloak, equivalent to capp ( a ) ( cap ¹ ) + -ella diminutive suffix; first applied to the sanctuary where the cloak of St. Martin (4th-century bishop of Tours) was kept as a relic

Word History and Origins

Origin of chapel¹

C13: from Old French chapele, from Late Latin cappella, diminutive of cappa cloak (see cap ); originally denoting the sanctuary where the cloak of St Martin of Tours was kept as a relic

Example Sentences

Mr Morse said he met Smyth at Winchester College where chapel services and evangelical Christian meetings were held to which Smyth was invited as an outsider to talk.

From BBC

“He is working in the chapel, which is absolutely amazing and I could never be more proud of my dad and the man that he is,” Savannah said on her podcast in 2023.

From Los Angeles Times

That is, of course, not exactly true, which Ani finds out not long after their wedding at a 24-hour Vegas chapel.

From Salon

The chapel used to host the court hearing normally functions as a school.

From BBC

A stained-glass window on the staircase is a reminder that the building was once a Methodist chapel.

From BBC

Related Words

• church
• sanctuary
• shrine