Word journey
The word church
the Lord's house; a Christian place of worship
The journey
| Form | Language | Date | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| *ḱewh₁- | Proto-Indo-European (reconstructed) · Proto-Indo-European Religion | undated | to swell, be strong; reconstructed root |
| kýrios | Ancient Greek · Ancient Greek Religion | 450 BCE | ruler, lord |
| kyriakón (dôma) | Koine Greek · Christianity | 300 CE | "the Lord's (house)", a church |
| *kirikā | Proto-West Germanic (reconstructed) · Christianity | undated | church; reconstructed early borrowing |
| kirihha | Old High German · Christianity | 800 CE | church |
| ċiriċe | Old English · Christianity | 900 CE | church |
What is certain and what is not
A rare case of a Christian word going straight from Greek into Germanic, probably via the Goths, while Romance languages used ecclesia. The Gothic link is a hypothesis, not an attested form.