Chancel
['tʃɑːns(ə)l] or ['tʃænsl]
Definition
(noun.) area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir; often enclosed by a lattice or railing.
Editor: Pratt--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) That part of a church, reserved for the use of the clergy, where the altar, or communion table, is placed.
(v. t.) All that part of a cruciform church which is beyond the line of the transept farthest from the main front.
Checked by Ellen
Definition
n. the eastern part of a church originally separated from the nave by a screen of lattice-work so as to prevent general access thereto though not to interrupt either sight or sound.
Checked by Cecily
Examples
- Bits of old wood carvings from the pulpit, and panels from the chancel, and images from the organ-loft, said the clerk. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Then she saw them enter and proceed to the chancel and kneel; and the service seemed to go on. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Hearing a cautious step behind me, I glanced over my shoulder: one of the strangers--a gentleman, evidently--was advancing up the chancel. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Or was the vault under the chancel of Gateshead Church an inviting bourne? Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Newland Archer, at a signal from the sexton, had come out of the vestry and placed himself with his best man on the chancel step of Grace Church. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- I entered with soothing awe the lighted chancel, and listened to the solemn religious chaunt, which spoke peace and hope to the unhappy. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
Inputed by Abner