tabernacle

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any temporary dwelling; a hut, tent, or booth.
  2. The portable tent used before the construction of the temple, where the shekinah (presence of God) was believed to dwell.
  3. The Jewish Temple at Jerusalem (as continuing the functions of the earlier tabernacle).
  4. Any portable shrine used in heathen or idolatrous worship.
  5. A sukkah, the booth or 'tabernacle' used during the Jewish Feast of Sukkot.
  6. A small ornamented cupboard or box used for the reserved sacrament of the Eucharist, normally located in an especially prominent place in a church.
  7. A temporary place of worship, especially a tent, for a tent meeting, as with a venue for revival meetings.
  8. Any house of worship, especially a Mormon meetinghouse.
  9. Any abode or dwelling place, or especially the human body as the temporary dwelling place of the soul, or life.
  10. A hinged device allowing for the easy folding of a mast 90 degrees from perpendicular, as for transporting the boat on a trailer, or passing under a bridge.
verb
  1. To dwell; to abide for a time.
  2. To instill or reside within, as a quality or virtue,
name
  1. A place name in the United States:
  2. An unincorporated community in Coffee County, Alabama.
  3. A township in Burlington County, New Jersey.
  4. An unincorporated community in Mathews County, Virginia.

Pronunciation

/ˈtæbɚnækl̩/ /ˈtæbənækl̩/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-tabernacle.wav

Word forms

tabernacle tabernacles tabernacling tabernacled

Etymology

From Middle English tabernacle (14th century), from Old French tabernacle, from Latin tabernāculum (“tent, booth, shed”), the diminutive of taberna (“hut, shed”). By surface analysis, taberna + -cle.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.