altar
Americannoun
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an elevated place or structure, as a mound or platform at which religious rites are performed or on which sacrifices are offered to gods, ancestors, etc.
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Ecclesiastical. communion table.
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Astronomy. Altar, the constellation Ara.
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(in a dry dock) a ledge for supporting the feet of shorings.
idioms
noun
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a raised place or structure where sacrifices are offered and religious rites performed
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(in Christian churches) the communion table
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a step in the wall of a dry dock upon which structures supporting a vessel can stand
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informal to marry
Etymology
Origin of altar
First recorded before 1000; Middle English alter, altar, auter, Old English altar, altare, alter; (compare Middle Dutch outaer, Old Saxon, Old Norse altari, Old High German altāri ), from Latin altāria (the more frequently used plural of altāre used in a singular sense), of disputed origin and formation, but probably akin to Latin adolēre “to make a burnt offering, cremate,” Umbrian uřetu “let it burn, set incense on the fire”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That stone now sits in an altar at St Davids Cathedral, built on the site of his original monastery.
From BBC
She spent hours in front of this memorial altar, drowning in sadness.
From Literature
But “the economic stakes, and the need for new trade relationships, are too high for us to be putting everything at the altar of diaspora politics.”
At one end of her playhouse, Daisy had built a little altar.
From Literature
The remains are being shown in a plexiglass case by the richly-decorated church's altar for the 800th anniversary of his death.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
