kirk
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Inherited from Northern Middle English kyrke, from either Old Norse kirkja or Old English ċiriċe. Doublet of church.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kɜːk/
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /kɪɾk/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)k
Noun
kirk (plural kirks)
- (Northern England and Scotland) A church.
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
- When she sang in the kirk, folk have told me that they had a foretaste of the musick of the New Jerusalem, and when she came in by the village of Caulds old men stottered to their doors to look at her.
- 1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 3:
- But long, long ago an enthusiastic reporter called it a "fairy palace," and the office building on the west side was once a church. Hence, in North British phraseology, to "gang tae the Kirk" meant to be had up on the carpet.
Derived terms
See also
Scots
Etymology
Inherited from Northern Middle English kyrke, from either Old Norse kirkja or Old English cirice.
Noun
kirk (plural kirks)
Verb
kirk (third-person singular simple present kirks, present participle kirkin, simple past kirkit, past participle kirkit)
- (transitive) to bring to church for burial
See also
References
- “kirk” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.