altarlet

English

Etymology

From altar +‎ -let.

Noun

altarlet (plural altarlets)

1. A small altar.
   • 1829, Robert Southey, All for love; and The pilgrim to Compostella, page 203:

     For of how small dimensions the altar of Santiago formerly was, lest we should be supposed to diminish it in our relation, may better be collected from the measure of the altarlet itself.

   • 1893, John O'Neill, The Night of the Gods:

     The canons say that an altar should be of stone ; altare debet esse lapideum, If the altar is not wholly of stone, but of wood for example, it suffices that there be an altarlet (altariolus) of stone or a lapis sacratus, holy stone, in it.

   • 1906, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Volumes 29-30, page 177:

     Beyond the lance stands an altarlet, upon which is erected a twofold cornucopia containing " plenty," represented by three (?) apples.