Meanings
nounaltar (plural altars)
plural altars
- A table or similar flat-topped structure used for religious rites.
Wax models of the pudenda of both sexes were regularly placed before the altar.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 2281 more example
To hawke, or els to hunt From the auter to the funt, Wyth cry unreverent, Before the sacrament, Wythin the holy church bowndis, That of our fayth the grownd is.
c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 9–14 - informalA raised area around an altar in a church; the sanctuary.
- figurativelyAny (real or notional) place where something is worshipped or sacrificed to.
[…]now marking the end of ascetic rationalism, the monadology no longer implied a sacrifice of individuality on the altar of rationality.
2000, Alain Renaut, M. B. De Bevoise, “Hegel and Nietzsche”, in Era of the Individual: A Contribution to a History of Subjectivity, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 129, lines 19–25
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe table in Christian churches where communion is given
Similar
communion tableLord's table
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinaltāre
- Old Frenchauter
- Old Englishaltar
- Middle Englishauter
- Englishaltar
Inherited from Middle English auter, inherited from Old English altar and borrowed from Old French auter, both derived from Latin altāre, probably related to adolere (“burn”); thus "burning place", influenced by altus (“high”). Displaced native Middle English wēved.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans altaar
- altaarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Ancient Greek βωμός, θυσιαστήριον
- βωμός (bōmós)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- θυσιαστήριον (thusiastḗrion)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Arabic مَذْبَح, هَيْكَل
- مَذْبَح (maḏbaḥ)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- هَيْكَل (haykal)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- مِحْرَاب (miḥrāb)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Basque aldare
- aldareflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Bengali পূজাবেদি, বেদি
- পূজাবেদি (pujabedi)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- বেদি (bedi)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Bulgarian олта́р
- олта́р (oltár)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Catalan altar
- altarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Chinese Mandarin 祭壇 /祭坛, 聖壇 /圣坛
- 祭壇 /祭坛 (jìtán)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- 聖壇 /圣坛 (shèngtán)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Czech oltář
- oltářflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Danish alter
- alterflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Dutch altaar
- altaarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Esperanto altaro
- altaroflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Estonian altar
- altarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Finnish alttari
- alttariflat-topped structure used for religious rites
French autel
- autelflat-topped structure used for religious rites
German Altar
- Altarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Greek βωμός, Αγία Τράπεζα
- βωμός (vomós)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- Αγία Τράπεζα (Agía Trápeza)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- θυσιαστήριο (thysiastírio)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Hebrew מִזְבֵּחַ, בָּמָה
- מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbéakh)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- בָּמָה (bamá)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Hindi वेदी
- वेदी (vedī)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Hungarian oltár
- oltárflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Icelandic altari
- altariflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Indonesian altar, mezbah
- altarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- mezbahflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Irish altóir
- altóirflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Italian altare
- altareflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Japanese 祭壇
- 祭壇 (saidan)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Korean 제단
- 제단 (jedan)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Latin ara, altāre
- araflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- altāreflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- altarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Latvian altāris
- altārisflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Lithuanian aukuras, altorius
- aukurasflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- altoriusflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Malay mazbah, mezbah
- mazbahflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- mezbahflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Māori āta, tūāhu
- ātaflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- tūāhuflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Norwegian Bokmål alter
- alterflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Persian محراب, مذبح
- محراب (mehrâb)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- مذبح (mazbah)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Polish ołtarz
- ołtarzflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Portuguese altar
- altarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Punjabi ਬੇਦੀ, ਪੀਠ
- ਬੇਦੀ (bedī)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- ਪੀਠ (pīṭh)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Romanian altar
- altarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Russian алта́рь, же́ртвенник
- алта́рь (altárʹ)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
- же́ртвенник (žértvennik)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Scottish Gaelic altair
- altairflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Slovak oltár
- oltárflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Spanish altar, ara
- altarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- araflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Swahili altare, madhabahu
- altareflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- madhabahuflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Swedish altare
- altareflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Tagalog dambana, altar
- dambanaflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- altarflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Tamil பலிபீடம்
- பலிபீடம் (palipīṭam)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Thai แท่นบูชา
- แท่นบูชา (tɛ̂ɛn-buu-chaa)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Turkish sunak, mihrap
- sunakflat-topped structure used for religious rites
- mihrapflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Ukrainian вівта́р
- вівта́р (vivtár)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Urdu قربان گاہ
- قربان گاہ (qurban gāh)flat-topped structure used for religious rites
Vietnamese bàn thờ
- bàn thờflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Welsh allor
- allorflat-topped structure used for religious rites
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with altar
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
altar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/altar
MLA
“altar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/altar. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “altar,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/altar.
Source: altar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.