church

English church comes through Old English cirice, also written circe and related spellings, from about the 7th century. It named both the Christian building and the Christian community. The form looks Germanic, but its source is Greek. That makes church unlike many core religious words borrowed from Latin or French.

The Greek source was kyriakon, short for kyriakon doma, 'the Lord's house.' It comes from kyrios, 'lord,' a title used for Christ in early Christianity. By the 4th century this Greek expression had moved north and west into Gothic and other Germanic speech. In that passage the initial k sound shifted toward ch in English.

West Germanic languages took the borrowing early, probably during the first centuries of Christian contact around the Roman frontier. Old High German had kirihha, Old Saxon had kirika, and Old English had cirice. These forms show the same borrowed base adapted to local sound patterns. English therefore kept a Greek Christian loanword that had already become Germanic in shape.

Modern church continues that line, with spelling stabilized by Middle English and early printing. Its meaning widened over time, so church can name a building, a body of believers, a denomination, or institutional Christianity. Yet the oldest sense is still visible in the word's frame. Church was first the Lord's house.