church

n

1. place of worship, house of prayer, house of God, the Lord's house, meeting house, (usu. in reference to Nonconformists) conventicle; basilica, cathedral, minster; chapel, oratory, sacellum, chantry, shrine, vestry, bethel; sanctuary, tabernacle; pantheon, mosque, temple, synagogue.

2. public worship, religious exercises or services, prayer meeting, communion; devotions, office, benediction, mass, novena; matins, vespers, lauds, compline; ceremony, rite, ritual; camp meeting, revival meeting.

3.Christendom, body of believers, the elect, followers of Christ, disciples of Christ, the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church Militant; Holy Mother Church, the Bride of Christ.

4. community of worshipers, congregation, parish, Christian fellowship, communion, body, fold, flock.

5. religion, faith, creed, belief, doctrine; affiliation, persuasion, ism, denomination, sect, cult; faction, schism.

6. clergy, church officials, hierarchy, prelacy, episcopacy, papacy, the Vatican, popedom; presbytery, vestry, parish council, (in some Reformed churches) classis.

7. sacred calling, religious vocation, religion, clerical profession, priesthood, ministry, rabbinate; holy orders, the cloth, the pulpit, the desk; religious life, monasticism, celibacy, the convent.

8.(usu. cap.) pre-Reformation Christianity; the Roman Catholic Church.