Word.ws English Dictionary

chancel

/ˈtʃɑːnsəl/US/ˈt͡ʃænsəl/

chancel noun: the space around the altar in a church or cathedral, often enclosed, for use by the clergy and the choir. In medieval cathedrals the chancel was usually enclosed or blocked off from the nave by an altar screen.

chancel: the space around the altar in a church or cathedral, often enclosed, for use by the clergy and the...
Image: Lancastermerrin88, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

chancel (plural chancels)

  1. The space around the altar in a church or cathedral, often enclosed, for use by the clergy and the choir. In medieval cathedrals the chancel was usually enclosed or blocked off from the nave by an altar screen.
    • Holonyms: church, cathedral
    • Near-synonyms: presbytery, sanctuary, apse (all broadly synonymous)
    Synonyms:
    presbytery, sanctuary, apse[Appendix:Glossary
    1. (broadly) The entire end of the church in which the altar stands, including the apse and the ambulatory.
      • Meronyms: presbytery, sanctuary, apse, ambulatory
    2. (precisely) A certain central portion of that end of the church, excluding the apse and the ambulatory.

Proper noun capitalized: Chancel

Chancel (plural Chancels)

  1. A surname

Synonyms of chancel

Forms of chancel

Noun
pluralchancels
alternative form (archaic)chauncel
Proper noun
pluralChancels

Origin of chancel

From Old French chancel. Doublet of cancellus.

Words formed from chancel

Phrases with chancel

Questions about chancel

What does chancel mean?
Chancel means the space around the altar in a church or cathedral, often enclosed, for use by the clergy and the choir. In medieval cathedrals the chancel was usually enclosed or blocked off from the nave by an altar screen.
What part of speech is chancel?
Chancel can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce chancel?
Chancel is pronounced /ˈtʃɑːnsəl/ (UK).
What is the plural of chancel?
The plural of chancel is chancels.

Words near chancel in the dictionary

  1. chanced one's arm
  2. chanced the ducks
  3. chanced upon
  4. chanceful
  5. chancefully
  6. chancel
  7. chancel organ
  8. chancel organs
  9. chancel repair liabilities
  10. chancel repair liability
  11. Chancelade

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: chancel (page history and authors); Chancel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-chancel.wav.

Cite this entry: “chancel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chancel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.