Etymology

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Today it means: The rounded east (liturgical east) end of a church that contains or is behind the altar. Full definition →

Latin apsis ← Ancient Greek ἁψίς
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἁψίς“arch, vault”
  2. Latin · borrowed fromapsis
  3. English todayapse

From Latin apsis, hapsis, from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís, “arch, vault”), from ἅπτω (háptō, “to bind, join”).

Words from the same roots

Latinapsis all →

Ancient Greekἁψίς all →

apsissynapsid

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.