altar

Definition

A table or similar flat-topped structure used for religious rites.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English auter, inherited from Old English altar and borrowed from Old French auter, both derived from Latin altāre, probably related to adolere (“burn”); thus "burning place", influenced by altus (“high”). Displaced native Middle English wēved.

Example Sentences

• "To hawke, or els to hunt From the auter to the funt, Wyth cry unreverent, Before the sacrament, Wythin the holy church bowndis, That of our fayth the grownd is."
• "Wax models of the pudenda of both sexes were regularly placed before the altar."
• "[…]now marking the end of ascetic rationalism, the monadology no longer implied a sacrifice of individuality on the altar of rationality."