chirche

See also: Chirche

English

Noun

chirche (plural chirches)

1. Obsolete spelling of church.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• cherch, cherche, chirch, chorche, church, churche, chyrch, chyrche, kirke, kyrk, kyrke, schyrsche
• chireche, chiriche, circe, cyrce (Early Middle English)

Etymology

From Old English ċiriċe, from Proto-West Germanic *kirikā, borrowed from Ancient Greek κυριακόν (kuriakón).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃirt͡ʃ(ə)/, /ˈt͡ʃurt͡ʃ(ə)/, (Kent, East Anglia) /ˈt͡ʃɛrt͡ʃ(ə)/
• (Northern) IPA^(key): /kirk/

Noun

chirche (plural chirches or chirchen)

1. church, cathedral
   • p. 1154, “AD 1137”, in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS. Laud Misc. 636, continuation), Peterborough, folio 89, verso; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 2018 February 8:

     Foꝛ ouer ſithon ne · foꝛ baren. hi nouther circe ne cyrceiard. oc namen al þe god ð þar inne ƿaſ. ⁊ brenden ſythen þe cyrce ⁊ al te gædere.

     Because after a while, they spared neither churches or churchyards, but stole all the valuables within them before burning the church and everything in it.

2. temple, synagogue
3. clergy, priests
4. religious organisation or community
5. Christendom, the whole of Christianity
6. The Roman Catholic Church
7. A regional branch of Christianity

Derived terms

• parische chirche

Descendants

• English: church
• Geordie English: chorch, kirk
• Scots: kirk
• Yola: chourch

References

• “chirche, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-26.