Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A small slab of stone consecrated and laid upon or let into the top of an altar which has not been consecrated, or which has no stone mensa: often used as a portable altar.
- noun A piece of oak wood about six inches square, having a cross on one side and the figure of a patron saint on the other. It was blessed and incased in gold or silver. It was, in the middle ages, covered with a purple pall during certain celebrations. z
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Arch.) A raised shelf or stand on the back of an altar, on which different objects can be placed; a predella or gradino.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun architecture A raised
shelf orstand on the back of analtar , suitable for holding objects; apredella orgradino .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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As a mark of his devotion to the Queen of Heaven, he adorned the golden superaltar with a sapphire of inestimable value, known as the Great Sapphire of
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 13: Revelation-Stock 1840-1916 1913
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Thus the Fulgosio tomb in the Santo, and the superaltar in the Eremitani at Padua (though much disfigured by paint), show that Giovanni da Pisa was influenced by Donatello to a remarkable degree.
Donatello, by Lord Balcarres David Lindsay Crawford 1905
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"superfluous plate", among which is specially mentioned "a superaltar garnished with silver gilt and part gold, called the Great Sapphire of Glastonbury".
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI 1840-1916 1913
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