churchyard
See also: church-yard
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English churchyard, chirch-ȝerd, chircheȝerd (also kirk-ȝerd, kirkeyard > English kirkyard), equivalent to church + yard. Compare also Middle English kurk-garth, kyrkgarth, kirrkegærd, from Old Norse kirkjugarðr (“churchyard; graveyard”). Replaced Middle English chirchetoun from Old English ċirictūn (churchtown).
Pronunciation
edit- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃ.jɑɹd/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɜːt͡ʃ.jɑːd/
- Hyphenation: church‧yard
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
editchurchyard (plural churchyards)
- A patch of land adjoining a church, often used as a graveyard.
- 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict[1]:
- They said nothing further, but tramped on in the growing darkness, past farm steadings, into the little village, through the silent churchyard where generations of the Pallisers lay, and up the beech avenue that led to Northrop Hall.
Synonyms
edit- (graveyard): see also Thesaurus:cemetery.
- kirkyard (Scotland)
Derived terms
editTranslations
editpatch of land adjoining a church
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- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English terms inherited from Old English
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