chaplain

C3H4A1P3L1A1I1N1
/ˈt͡ʃæp.lɪn/

noun

A member of a religious body (who is often, although not always, of the clergy) officially assigned to provide pastoral care at an institution, group, private chapel, etc.

OriginMiddle English chapeleyn ← Old French chapelain ← Late Latin cappellānus →
Less commonScrabble 15
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Meanings

chaplain1

nounchaplain (plural chaplains)

plural chaplains

  1. A member of a religious body (who is often, although not always, of the clergy) officially assigned to provide pastoral care at an institution, group, private chapel, etc.

    The Railway Mission's regionally based chaplains perform the role of impartial 'friend' to anyone working on the railway, regardless of their faith.

    2021 September 8, Stefanie Foster, “Network News: Countdown is on to the National Rail Awards 2021”, in RAIL, number 939, page 19
  2. A person without religious affiliation who carries out similar duties in a secular context.

Chaplain2

proper nounChaplain (plural Chaplains)

plural Chaplains

  1. A surname.

Origin

chaplain · noun

  1. Late Latincappellānus
  2. Old Frenchchapelain
  3. Middle Englishchapeleyn
  4. Englishchaplain

From Middle English chapeleyn, from Old French chapelain, from Medieval Latin, Late Latin cappellānus, from cappella. Doublet of capelin. Displaced Old English handprēost.

More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Chaplain · proper noun

Variant of Chaplin.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic قِسِّيس, قَسّ
  • قِسِّيس (qissīs)member of a religious body
  • قَسّ (qass)member of a religious body
  • قِسّ (qiss)member of a religious body
  • كَاهِن (kāhin)member of a religious body
Bulgarian капела́н
  • капела́н (kapelán)member of a religious body
Catalan capellà
  • capellàmember of a religious body
Chinese Mandarin 牧師 /牧师
  • 牧師 /牧师 (mùshī)member of a religious body
Czech kaplan
  • kaplanmember of a religious body
Danish kapellan
  • kapellanmember of a religious body
Dutch kapelaan
  • kapelaanmember of a religious body
Estonian kaplan
  • kaplanmember of a religious body
Finnish kappalainen
  • kappalainenmember of a religious body
French aumônier, chapelain
  • aumôniermember of a religious body
  • chapelainmember of a religious body
German Kaplan, Kaplanin
  • Kaplanmember of a religious body
  • Kaplaninmember of a religious body
  • Seelsorgermember of a religious body
  • Seelsorgerinmember of a religious body
  • Gefängnisseelsorgermember of a religious body
  • Gefängnisseelsorgerinmember of a religious body
  • Krankenhausseelsorgermember of a religious body
  • Krankenhausseelsorgerinmember of a religious body
Greek καπελάνος
  • καπελάνος (kapelános)member of a religious body
Hungarian káplán
  • káplánmember of a religious body
Icelandic kapellán
  • kapellánmember of a religious body
Indonesian kapelan
  • kapelanmember of a religious body
Irish séiplíneach
  • séiplíneachmember of a religious body
Italian cappellano
  • cappellanomember of a religious body
Japanese チャプレン, チャップレン
  • チャプレン (chapuren)member of a religious body
  • チャップレン (chappuren)member of a religious body
  • 軍僧 (gunsō)member of a religious body
  • 牧師 (bokushi)member of a religious body
Korean 담당사제, 사제
  • 담당사제 (damdangsaje)member of a religious body
  • 사제 (saje)member of a religious body
  • 목사 (moksa)member of a religious body
Latin capellanus
  • capellanusmember of a religious body
Latvian kapelāns
  • kapelānsmember of a religious body
Lithuanian kapelionas
  • kapelionasmember of a religious body
Māori tiaparani
  • tiaparanimember of a religious body
Norwegian Bokmål kapellan, feltprest
  • kapellanmember of a religious body
  • feltprestmember of a religious body
Polish kapelan
  • kapelanmember of a religious body
Portuguese capelão
  • capelãomember of a religious body
Romanian capelan
  • capelanmember of a religious body
Russian капелла́н
  • капелла́н (kapellán)member of a religious body
Slovak kaplán
  • kaplánmember of a religious body
Spanish capellán
  • capellánmember of a religious body
Swedish kaplan
  • kaplanmember of a religious body
Tagalog kapelyan
  • kapelyanmember of a religious body
Ukrainian капела́н, капеля́н
  • капела́н (kapelán)member of a religious body
  • капеля́н (kapelján)member of a religious body
Vietnamese tuyên úy
  • tuyên úymember of a religious body

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

Chaplin
Cite this entry
APA

chaplain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chaplain

MLA

“chaplain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chaplain. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chaplain,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chaplain.

Source: chaplain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.