Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- In the usual position of a church-altar, that is, with ends toward the north and south and front toward the west.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In the proper position of an altar, that is, at the east of a church with its ends towards the north and south.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Placed in the manner of an
altar , against theeastern wall of thechancel with the longer sideparallel to that wall.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word altarwise.
Examples
-
They were still kneeling altarwise; their profiles turned from her.
Evelyn Innes 1892
-
The holy table was removed from the centre, and set altarwise against the eastern wall, with a cloth of arras behind it, on which was embroidered the history of the Last Supper.
History of the English People, Volume V (of 8) Puritan England, 1603-1660 John Richard Green 1860
-
With this view commissioners were sent in January 1641 into every county "for the defacing, demolishing, and quite taking away of all images, altars, or tables turned altarwise, crucifixes, superstitious pictures, monuments, and reliques of idolatry out of all churches and chapels."
History of the English People, Volume V (of 8) Puritan England, 1603-1660 John Richard Green 1860
-
The table stands in the body of the church in some places, in others it stands in the chancel; in some places the table stands altarwise, distant from the wall a yard, in others in the middle of the chancel, north and south.
A Modern History, From the Time of Luther to the Fall of Napoleon For the Use of Schools and Colleges John Lord 1852
-
In the same paper the communion table is noticed as standing in the body of the church in some places, in others standing in the chancel; in some places standing altarwise, distant from the wall a yard, in others in the middle of the chancel, north and south; in some places _the table was joined, in others it stood upon tressels_; in some the table had a carpet, in others none.
The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture, Elucidated by Question and Answer, 4th ed. Matthew Holbeche Bloxam 1846
-
Being of the vestry in the afternoone, we order’d that the communion table should be set as usual altarwise, with a decent raile in front, as before the rebellion.”
The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture, Elucidated by Question and Answer, 4th ed. Matthew Holbeche Bloxam 1846
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.