Apse

//æps// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The rounded east end of a church that contains or is behind the altar.

    "Holonyms: church, cathedral"

  2. 2
    An aspen tree. dialectal, obsolete
  3. 3
    a domed or vaulted recess or projection on a building especially the east end of a church; usually contains the altar wordnet
  4. 4
    The rounded east end of a church that contains or is behind the altar.; The interior portion of this section of the church building, excluding the ambulatory and any apse chapels.
  5. 5
    A semicircular projection from any building that is similar to a church's apse.

    "The college has an apse that once held a small chapel."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    The bishop's seat or throne in ancient churches.
  2. 7
    A reliquary: a case in which the relics of saints are kept.
  3. 8
    Obsolete form of apsis (“the nearest and furthest points to the centre of gravitational attraction for a body in orbit”). alt-of, obsolete

Etymology

From Latin apsis, hapsis, from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís, “arch, vault”), from ἅπτω (háptō, “I bind, join”).

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