churchyard
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See also: church-yard
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English churchyard, chirch-ȝerd, chircheȝerd (also kirk-ȝerd, kirkeyard > English kirkyard), equivalent to church + yard. Compare also Middle English kurk-garth, kyrkgarth, kirrkegærd, from Old Norse kirkjugarðr (“churchyard; graveyard”). Replaced Middle English chirchetoun from Old English ċirictūn (churchtown).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃ.jɑɹd/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɜːt͡ʃ.jɑːd/
- Hyphenation: church‧yard
Audio (US) (file)
Noun[edit]
churchyard (plural churchyards)
- A patch of land adjoining a church, often used as a graveyard.
- 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict[1]:
- They said nothing further, but tramped on in the growing darkness, past farm steadings, into the little village, through the silent churchyard where generations of the Pallisers lay, and up the beech avenue that led to Northrop Hall.
Synonyms[edit]
- (graveyard): see also Thesaurus:cemetery.
- kirkyard (Scotland)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
patch of land adjoining a church
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English compound terms
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English 2-syllable words
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