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Americannoun
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Architecture. a semicircular or polygonal termination or recess in a building, usually vaulted and used especially at the end of a choir in a church.
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Astronomy. an apsis.
noun
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Also called: apsis. a domed or vaulted semicircular or polygonal recess, esp at the east end of a church
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astronomy another name for apsis
Other Word Forms
- apsidal adjective
- apsidally adverb
Etymology
Origin of apse
First recorded in 1815–25; variant of apsis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A room near the church’s apse contains fragments of a sarcophagus believed to be St. Neophytos’s.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
The floor plans of Aksumite churches generally followed that of Byzantine churches or basilica, meaning they were oblong in shape with a rounded apse at one end.
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
It was only possible to complete the apse, choir and transepts.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2023
A second work with the same title, a painting in seven parts, is installed as an apse in an adjacent room.
From New York Times • Apr. 21, 2022
Once the east end of the site had been cleared, the location of the apse and choir was marked out with wooden stakes.
From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
