cirice
The Old English word for church is cirice.
The term refers to a house of worship.
Meaning: house of worship (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
To say "of the church," use the genitive singular form cirices.
Did you know?
- The word cirice comes, through early Germanic, from the Greek word kuriakón, which meant 'belonging to the Lord'.
- In the early Old English period, a person might have referred to the 'cirice' to mean the community of believers rather than the stone walls.
- Because Old English was a highly inflected language, the ending of cirice would change depending on whether the church was the subject or the object of the sentence.
Examples in context
- Ic gā tō þǣrre cirice.I am going to the church.
- Wē biddaþ in þǣre cirice.We pray in the church.
Example conversation
Mildryth and Osric are walking through a village.
- MildrythHwēr is sēo cirice, Osric?Where is the church, Osric?
- OsricHēo is on þǣm hēan stede.It is on the high place.
- MildrythIċ wille gān tō þære cirice.I want to go to the church.
- OsricGān wē nū tōgædere.Let us go together now.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cirice, CC BY-SA 4.0.
