English Explanatory Dictionary

Great Church

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. The orthodox Christian church of antiquity, after 380 CE the established church of the Roman Empire, especially as distinct from smaller Christian movements or heresies.
  2. Hagia Sophia before the fall of the Byzantine Empire or one of the churches that previously occupied its site, the Great Church of Constantinople.
  3. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Word forms

Great Church the Great Church

Etymology

Calque of Koine Greek μεγάλη ἐκκλησία (megálē ekklēsía). In sense of “orthodox Christian church”, cf. Celsus (2nd century) describing mainstream Christian believers, quoted in Origen, Contra Celsum, 5.59: “Σαφῶς γε τῶν ἀπὸ μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας τοῦτο ὁμολογούντων […] ” (“Certainly, the members of the Great Church agree […] ”).

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