Meaning & use
altar
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Meanings
nouncountablereligion
A table or raised block in a church or temple at the front of the room, where religious rituals are performed.
Grammar: Often used with at or on: kneel at the altar.
Patterns
- at the altar
- on the altar
The priest placed the candles on the altar before the service.
Visitors left flowers at the altar in the old temple.
The choir gathered in front of the altar.
nouncountablereligion
A structure on which offerings or sacrifices were made to a god in ancient or traditional religions.
Grammar: Often appears in historical contexts.
Patterns
- an altar to someone
Archaeologists uncovered a stone altar dedicated to the sun god.
Farmers once burned grain on an altar to ask for a good harvest.
nounsingularfigurative
The place in a church where a couple stand to be married, used in expressions about weddings.
Grammar: Used with the: walk down the aisle to the altar.
Patterns
- lead someone to the altar
- left at the altar
He was left at the altar when his bride changed her mind.
They finally made it to the altar after a ten-year engagement.
Word forms
| plural | altars |
|---|
Common combinations
- high altar
- The high altar is decorated with gold leaf.
- altar boy
- He served as an altar boy every Sunday.
- altar cloth
- A white altar cloth covered the table.
- left at the altar
- The novel opens with a bride left at the altar.
- sacrifice on the altar of
- They sacrificed quality on the altar of profit.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shrine
- A shrine is a holy place or object of devotion, which can be a whole small building, while an altar is a specific table or platform.
- communion table
- Communion table is used in some Protestant churches and avoids the sacrifice idea that altar suggests.
- sanctuary
- Sanctuary names the holy area around the altar, not the table itself.
Word family
- altarpiece noun
- a painting or carving above an altar
- altar boy noun
- a boy who helps a priest in services
- altar call noun
- an invitation at the end of a service to come forward
Commonly confused: altar or alter?
altar vs alter
Alter is a verb meaning to change something, and it sounds the same as altar. Remember altar has the 'ar' of a church.
Practice
The couple stood at the ___ while the priest read the vows.
Choose one answer.
Altar is the noun for the place where ceremonies happen. Alter is a verb meaning to change, and the other options are not words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “altar”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.