church

plural churches · alternative obsolete churche · alternative obsolete chirche · alternative chu'ch · alternative chuuch · alternative pronunciation spelling chuhch

1. countableChristianityA Christian house of worship; a building where Christian religious services take place.First known use 9th c.

   There is a lovely little church in the valley.

   3 more examples

   This building used to be a church before being converted into a library.

   He got the message and was in church the next Sunday. We need to stay in church with the fellowship of others in order to keep the fire of faith burning brightly.

   2007, John R. Dodd, Bucky and Friends, page 117

   Most are descended from low-caste Hindus who converted in the 19th century, when many of the country’s hundred or so British colonial-era churches were built. […] Built in the shape of a cross, the pink-brick-and-sandstone church soars above Mall Road, the city’s main thoroughfare.

   2018 March 19, Isambard Wilkinson, “The crumbling colonial-era churches of Pakistan”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2020

   Synonyms: chapel, kirk

2. countableuncountableChristians collectively seen as a single spiritual community; Christianity; Christendom.First known use 9th c.

   These worshippers make up the Church of Christ.

   1 more example

   Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

   Acts 20:28, New International Version

3. countableA local group of people who follow the same Christian religious beliefs, local or general.First known use 9th c.

   Many young people find their only role models of family life in church.

   2007, Bill Gibson, The Ultimate Church Sound Operator's Handbook, page 78

   4 more examples

   He got the message and was in church the next Sunday. We need to stay in church with the fellowship of others in order to keep the fire of faith burning brightly.

   2007, John R. Dodd, Bucky and Friends, page 117

   As they actively get involved in ministry, lay ministry becomes vigorous, and new believers will settle in church with more ease.

   2008, Yil Gyoung Kang, Enhancing understanding the church through preaching on ..., page 61

   she had very many adults in church with whom she could talk about issues in life.

   2009, Christian Smith with Patricia Snell, Souls in Transition, page 194

   Ruthie had left the church disappointed , reluctant to give up the idea that she was chosen by God to become a saint . But within a month she had sinned by lying , masturbating , and coveting Sarah 130 • Beu Marshall.

   2004, Bev Marshall, Right as Rain, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 130

4. countableA particular denomination of Christianity.First known use 9th c.

   The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534.

5. countableuncountableChristian worship held at a church; service.First known use 10th c.

   the learned women will be qualified to lead in church with equal grace and equal insight and equal gifts.

   2003, George Shillington, On a Journey with God: You Come Too, page 53

   2 more examples

   Pastors complained that they were not allowed enough authority in church, with women exercising too much informal control.

   1997, Paul Harvey, Redeeming the South: Religious Cultures and Racial Identities ..., page 119

   Some people are always saying, "Oh, you have too much church." You never get too much church. I go to church every day.

   2000, Lee Roberson, Disturbing Questions...: Solid Answers, page 174

6. uncountableOrganized religion in general or a specific religion considered as a political institution.

   Many constitutions enshrine the separation of church and state.

   4 more examples

   But in Muslim countries, Church and State are one indissolubly, and until the very essence of Islam passes away, that unity cannot be relaxed. The law of the land, too, is, in theory, the law of the Church.

   1903, Duncan Black MacDonald, Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theory, page 4

   Because the pan-Buddhist movement was heavily supported by the Japanese in Inner Mongolia, the Buddhist church, already under attack by Soviet-backed antireligion campaigns in Outer Mongolia, was further damaged […]

   1991, Cyril E. Black et al., The Modernization of Inner Asia, page 15

   The church was tighening up on matters sexual. Until the middle of the tenth century it had been quite routine for priests to be married.

   1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 169

   The secular absolutist model is based on a strict separation between church and state.

   2001, Ayelet Shachar, Multicultural Jurisdictions: Cultural Differences and Women's Rights, page 72

7. countableinformaluncountableAny religious group or place of worship; a temple.First known use 16th c.

   She goes to a Wiccan church down the road.

   1 more example

   Among these, the church must investigate fundemental questions, […]

   2007, Scott A. Merriman, Religion and the Law in America, page 313

8. countableobsoleteuncountableAssembly.

present singular third person churches · participle present churching · participle past churched · past churched · alternative obsolete churche · alternative obsolete chirche · alternative chu'ch · alternative chuuch · alternative pronunciation spelling chuhch

1. historicaltransitiveChristianityTo conduct a religious service for (a woman after childbirth, or a newly married couple).First known use 15th c.

   Nor did it [the Church] accept that the woman should stay indoors until she had been churched.

   1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 36

   1 more example

   Thenne after this lady was delyuerd and chirched / there came a knyghte vnto her / his name was sire Bromel la pleche / the whiche was a grete lord and he hadde loued that lady longe / and he euermore desyred her to wedde her / and soo by no meane she coude putte hym of

   1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “Tercium”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XI

2. transitiveTo educate someone religiously, as in a church.

   “we’re mighty glad to have you all here. Don’t pay no ‘tention to Lula, she’s contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her. She’s a troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways—we’re mighty glad to have you all.”

   1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC

alternative obsolete churche · alternative obsolete chirche · alternative chu'ch · alternative chuuch · alternative pronunciation spelling chuhch

1. slangUsed to express strong agreement.

   – These burritos are the best! – Church!

   Synonyms: preach

1. A surname.
2. A specific church (Christian religious denomination), such as the Church of England or the Catholic Church.

   John was a convert to the Church who left his home in England and traveled to the Salt Lake Valley as part of a handcart company.

   2008 November, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Lift Where You Stand”, in Liahona, pages 53–56

   2 more examples

   Priest: Look, matey, this is a church, not a dealing room. I am not interested in your creepy theories about enterprise and initiative. This place is founded on ideas a bit more permanent than the Dow Jones Index... The Church will be here long after your little brat has grown up, ripped a few people off and died unloved in his Spanish retirement villa. Mother: Portuguese, actually, and there's no need to be so beastly. Priest: Well, I'm sorry, but people like you really piss me off.

   1989 February 10, Stephen Fry et al., “Christening”, in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, season 1, episode 5

   Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."

   Catechism of the Catholic Church

3. Christianity conceptualized as a single church, irrespective of its various denominations; Christendom.

   the Son in Heaven and the Church on Earth

4. A village in Hyndburn borough, near Accrington, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD7429).
5. An unincorporated community in Allamakee County, Iowa, United States.

   Synonyms: Church Village, Churchtown