Dictionary

kirk en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /kɔʶːk/ (Northumbria)
• /kɪɾk/ (Scotland)
• /kɜːk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• /kɜɹk/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *ḱuh₁ryós Proto-Hellenic *kúrios Ancient Greek κῡ́ριος (kū́rios) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ακός (-akós) Koine Greek κῡριακός (kūriakós)nom. Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Hellenic *-on Ancient Greek -ον (-on) Koine Greek κῡρῐᾰκόν (kūrĭăkón)bor. Proto-West Germanic *kirikā Old English ċiriċebor. Old Norse kirkjabor. Northern Middle English kirke English kirk Inherited from Northern Middle English kirke, borrowed from Old Norse kirkja, borrowed from Old English ċiriċe, from Proto-West Germanic *kirikā, borrowed from Koine Greek κῡρῐᾰκόν (kūrĭăkón), a nominalization of κῡριακός (kūriakós), or from Ancient Greek -ον (-on). Doublet of church.

Meanings

1. (Northern-England, Scotland) A church.
   • The Ship was cheer'd, the Harbour clear'd— / Merrily did we drop / Below the Kirk, below the Hill, / Below the Light-house top. 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
   • But long, long ago an enthusiastic reporter called it a "fairy palace," and the office building on the west side was once a church. Hence, in North British phraseology, to "gang tae the Kirk" meant to be had up on the carpet. 1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 3:
   • When she sang in the kirk, folk have told me that they had a foretaste of the musick of the New Jerusalem, and when she came in by the village of Caulds old men stottered to their doors to look at her. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

Forms

Deriveds

kirkman · Kirby · Kirkby · kirkmaster · Kirkmichael · Kirk Ella · Kirkist · Free Kirk · Kirk Yetholm · kirktown · Kirkland · Kirk Bramwith · kirkgarth · Kirk Smeaton · kirkland · Kirk Hammerton · kirk-town · kirkbuzzer · kirkgoer · Kirk Michael · Kirk Merrington · kirklike · kirkyard · kirk-session · kirkmaister · Kirk Sandall · Kirkinch · Kirkton