chapel
noun
Simple meaning
A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chapuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃæpəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
especially christianity
A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church.
A place of worship in another building or within a civil institution such as a larger church, airport, prison, monastery, school, etc.; often primarily for private prayer.
uk
A place of worship of a denomination not in conformity with the Church of England, usually Protestant.
A funeral home, or a room in one for holding funeral services.
A choir of singers, or an orchestra, attached to the court of a prince or nobleman.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church.
Used this way, chapel is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Nearby words
- chapel service , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use chapel
- “They held a small, intimate ceremony inside the old chapel.”
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.