église

See also: eglise, and Église

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French eglise, from Old French eglise, esglise, from Vulgar Latin *eclesia, from Latin ecclēsia, from Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “gathering”).

• Cognate with Catalan església, Italian chiesa, Portuguese igreja, Spanish iglesia

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.ɡliz/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

église f (plural églises)

1. (architecture, Christianity) church

Usage notes

Traditionally, in Europe, église refers to a Catholic or Orthodox church, with Protestant churches referred to as temples. In Canada, église is used for all Christian churches.

Derived terms

• banc d’église
• gueux comme un rat d’église

Descendants

• Antillean Creole: légliz
• Guianese Creole: légliz
• Haitian Creole: legliz
• Karipúna Creole French: legliz
• Louisiana Creole: legliz
• → Malagasy: eglizy
• Seychellois Creole: legliz
• → Tayo: leglis

See also

• mosquée (Islam)
• synagogue (Jewish)
• temple (generic, Protestant)

Further reading

• “église”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• “église” in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse.
• “église” in Dico en ligne Le Robert.

Anagrams

• Gisèle
• lièges
• seigle