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This type of church, of which the aisled nave and the apse are the essential parts, is known as the

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Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Architecture A usually semicircular or polygonal, often vaulted recess, especially the termination of the sanctuary end of a church.
  2. noun Astronomy An apsis.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Our guidebook claimed that the rounding outward of the apse was the first moment of the Romanesque, a sudden gesture that brought in light across the altar. —  The Historian
  • He found the velocity greater at the nearer apse, so that the time over an equal arc at either apse was proportional to the distance. —  Kepler
  • The area of the apse was almost entirely exposed, as were other parts of the southern aisle. —  Israel Ministry Of Foreign Affairs
  • It has, however, an extremely interesting early Norman apse, which is different to everything else in Rouen, and older than any other building, save St. Mellon's crypt at St. Gervais. By going round the outside you can see three apses, and as you stand there, the midmost apse is the Norman building, that on your left is of the ninth century, and that on the right of the fourteenth. —  The Story of Rouen
  • These opposite ranks of the Apostles occupy what may be called the apse or curved bay of the porch, and form a nearly semicircular group, clearly visible as we approach. —  Our Fathers Have Told Us Part I. The Bible of Amiens
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Variant of apsis.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin apsis, in the architectural sense, as in definition: see apsis.
 

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/æps/
by American Heritage

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