churchyard
See also: church-yard
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From 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 edit
churchyard (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 edit
Translations edit
patch of land adjoining a church