Wiktionary

altar

See also: Altar, áltár, and ältar

English

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An altar in a monastery in Brandenburg, Germany

Etymology

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Inherited from Middle English auter, inherited from Old English altar and borrowed from Old French auter, both derived from Latin altāre,[1] probably related to adolere (“burn”); thus "burning place", influenced by altus (“high”). Displaced native Middle English wēved.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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altar (plural altars)

  1. A table or similar flat-topped structure used for religious rites.
    • c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 9–14:
      To hawke, or els to hunt
      From the auter to the funt,
      Wyth cry unreverent,
      Before the sacrament,
      Wythin the holy church bowndis,
      That of our fayth the grownd is.
  2. (informal) A raised area around an altar in a church; the sanctuary.
  3. (figurative) Any (real or notional) place where something is worshipped or sacrificed to.
    • 2000, Alain Renaut, M. B. De Bevoise, “Hegel and Nietzsche”, in Era of the Individual: A Contribution to a History of Subjectivity‎[1], Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 129, lines 19–25:
      […] now marking the end of ascetic rationalism, the monadology no longer implied a sacrifice of individuality on the altar of rationality.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Maori: āta

Translations

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 “altar”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Further reading

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  • “altar”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

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Albanian

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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altár m

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Declension

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Declension of altar
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative altar altari altarë altarët
accusative altarin
dative altari altarit altarëve altarëve
ablative altarësh

Further reading

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  • “altar”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
  • FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎[2], 1980
  • Newmark, L. (1999) “altar”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary‎[3]

Catalan

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Etymology

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Inherited from Latin altāre.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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altar m (plural altars)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

References

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  1. ^ “altar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.

Further reading

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Chavacano

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Etymology

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Inherited from Spanish altar.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /alˈtaɾ/, [al̪ˈt̪aɾ]
  • Rhymes: -aɾ
  • Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

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altár

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Cimbrian

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Etymology

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From Middle High German alter, altære, from Old High German altāri, from Latin altāre. Cognate with German Altar.

Noun

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altar m (uncountable)

  1. (Sette Comuni) altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

References

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  • “altar” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Estonian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin altāre.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈɑltɑr/, [ˈɑltɑr]
  This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Noun

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altar (genitive altari, partitive altarit)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)
    Synonym: altarilaud

Declension

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Declension of altar (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation)
singular plural
nominative altar altarid
accusative nom.
gen. altari
genitive altarite
partitive altarit altareid
illative altarisse altaritesse
altareisse
inessive altaris altarites
altareis
elative altarist altaritest
altareist
allative altarile altaritele
altareile
adessive altaril altaritel
altareil
ablative altarilt altaritelt
altareilt
translative altariks altariteks
altareiks
terminative altarini altariteni
essive altarina altaritena
abessive altarita altariteta
comitative altariga altaritega

Further reading

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  • “altar”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
  • “altar”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
  • altar in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

Faroese

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Etymology

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From Old Norse altari, from Old Saxon altari, from Latin altare (“altar”), cognate with Danish alter (“altar”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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altar n (genitive singular altars, plural altar)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Declension

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n3 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative altar altarið altar altarini
accusative altar altarið altar altarini
dative altari altarinum altarum altarunum
genitive altars altarsins altara altaranna

Galician

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altar, church of Saint Mary, Melide, Galicia.

Etymology

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From Old Galician-Portuguese altar (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin altāre.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /alˈtaɾ/ [ɑl̪ˈt̪aɾ]
  • Rhymes: -aɾ
  • Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

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altar m (plural altares)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)
    Synonym: ara
    • 1370, Ramón Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 660:
      […] et talloulle a cabeça dentro ẽno tẽplo, ante o altar.
      […] and he cut his head inside, in the temple, before the altar.

Derived terms

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References

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Indonesian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Dutch altaar, from Latin altāre.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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altar (plural altar-altar)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)
  2. mazbah (sacrificial place)
  3. (nautical term) a ladder on a ship's dock used to get up and down to and from the dock floor

Further reading

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Irish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈal̪ˠ.t̪ˠəɾˠ]

Verb

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altar

  1. present indicative autonomous of alt
  2. imperative autonomous of alt
  3. present subjunctive autonomous of alt

Mutation

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Mutated forms of altar
radical eclipsis with h-prothesis with t-prothesis
altar n-altar haltar not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Latin

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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altar n (genitive altāris); third declension

  1. Alternative form of altāre (“altar”) (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Usage notes

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In pre-Classical and Classical Latin, this noun only occurs in the plural as a plurale tantum.

Declension

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Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem).

singular plural
nominative altar altāria
genitive altāris altārium
dative altārī altāribus
accusative altar altāria
ablative altārī altāribus
vocative altar altāria

Descendants

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See altāre.

References

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  • “altar”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “altar”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎[4]

Lombard

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /alˈtɑːr/ (Milanese)
  • Rhymes: -ɑːr
  • Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

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altar m (plural altar)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Manx

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Noun

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altar m (plural altaryn)

  1. (religion) altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Norwegian Bokmål

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Noun

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altar n

  1. form removed by a 1984 spelling decision; superseded by alter: altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn
 
Altar i Uvdal stavkyrkje

Etymology 1

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From late Old Norse altari, from Old Saxon altari, itself taken from Latin altāre (“altar”).

Alternative forms

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Noun

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altar n (definite singular altaret, indefinite plural altar, definite plural altara)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

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altar m

  1. indefinite plural of alt

References

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Old Galician-Portuguese

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Etymology

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From Latin altāre (“altar for burnt offerings”). Cf. also outeiro.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /alˈtaɾ/
  • Rhymes: -aɾ
  • Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

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altar m (plural altares)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Descendants

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Old High German

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Etymology

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From Proto-Germanic *aldrą, whence also Old English ealdor, Old Norse aldr.

Noun

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altar n

  1. age

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Portuguese

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Etymology

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From Old Galician-Portuguese altar, from Latin altāre (“altar for burnt offerings”). Cf. also Portuguese outeiro.

Pronunciation

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  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /alˈtaɾ/ [aɫˈtaɾ]
    • (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /alˈta.ɾi/ [aɫˈta.ɾi]

  • Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

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altar m (plural altares)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Romanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Inherited from Latin altārium or altār, with the plural deriving from altāria. Compare oltar, a rare and dated variant which derives from the same source via a Slavic intermediary.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /alˈtar/
  • Rhymes: -ar
  • Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

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altar n (plural altare)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)
    Synonym: pristol
  2. communion table
  3. chancel
  4. shrine, sanctuary
    Synonym: sanctuar

Declension

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Declension of altar
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative altar altarul altare altarele
genitive-dative altar altarului altare altarelor
vocative altarule altarelor

Further reading

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Spanish

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old Spanish altar (attested as far back as the Cantar de Mio Cid[1]), from Latin altāre. See also otero.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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altar m (plural altares)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)
  2. stone that separates the firebox from the hearth in reverberatory furnaces

Derived terms

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Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1983–1991) “altar”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos

Further reading

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Tagalog

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Spanish altar, from Old Spanish altar, from Latin altāre. Doublet of alta.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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altár (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜎ᜔ᜆᜇ᜔)

  1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)
    Synonyms: dalanginan, dambana, alta
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Further reading

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  • “altar”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
  • San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613) Juan de Silva, editor, Vocabulario de lengua tagala: El romance castellano puesto primero‎[5], La Noble Villa de Pila, page 47: “Altar) Altar (pc) C. de Igleſia v de otro lugar”
  • Cuadrado Muñiz, Adolfo (1972) Hispanismos en el tagalo: diccionario de vocablos de origen español vigentes en esta lengua filipina, Madrid: Oficina de Educación Iberoamericana, page 27
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