Etymology

churchyard

church·yard
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Today it means: A patch of land adjoining a church, often used as a graveyard. Full definition →

Middle English chircheyerd ← Old English ċirictūn
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromċirictūn
  2. Middle English · inherited fromchirchetoun
  3. Middle English · inherited fromchircheyerd
  4. English todaychurchyard

Inherited from Middle English chircheyerd (also kirkeyerd > English kirkyard), equivalent to church + yard. Compare also Middle English kurk-garth, kyrkgarth, kirrkegærd, from Old Norse kirkjugarðr (“churchyard; graveyard”). Replaced Middle English chirchetoun from Old English ċirictūn (churchtown).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.