What does "iconostasis" mean?

A wall of icons between the sanctuary and the nave in an Eastern Orthodox church.

What is a synonym for "iconostasis"?

Common synonyms include: iconostas.

Pronounced //ˌaɪkəˈnɒstəsɪs//.

//ˌaɪkəˈnɒstəsɪs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A wall of icons between the sanctuary and the nave in an Eastern Orthodox church.
"The altar was hidden behind an Iconostasis. The church was looked after by an old sacristan who lived in a cottage on the shore of the lake."

"The altar was hidden behind an Iconostasis. The church was looked after by an old sacristan who lived in a cottage on the shore of the lake."

Borrowed from Byzantine Greek εἰκονόστασις (eikonóstasis), from εἰκών (eikṓn, “icon”) + στάσις (stásis, “fixture”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.