église
/e.ɡliz/
noun
Origin
Ancient Greek
ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) — assembly, convocation
Overview
Meaning Now
- A building used for public Christian worship.
- The community of all Christian believers considered as a whole; the institution of the Church.
Literal older meaning
assembly or gathering of citizens
Language path
Ancient Greek → Late Latin → Old French → French
Earliest form
eglise
Earliest period
11th century
Journey
The term stems from the Greek 'ekklesia', which originally referred to the secular assembly of citizens in a city-state. Early Christians adopted this word to differentiate their 'called-out' community from the surrounding society.
Evolution
- Ancient Greek
ἐκκλησία
“assembly of citizens in Ancient Greece”
- Late Latin
ecclesia
“Christian assembly, church”
Adopted into Christian vocabulary to denote the gathering of the faithful.
- Old French
eglise
“Christian building or institution”
Development of phonology from Latin to Gallo-Romance.
Connections
Word parts
ek-
prefix
out
kalein
root
to call
Related across languages
Spanish
iglesia
church
Italian
chiesa
church
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Related to église
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.