Christian Church

==Etymology==
The [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] word ''[[wiktionary:ekklesia|ekklēsia]]'', literally "called out" or "called forth" and commonly used to indicate a group of individuals called to gather for some function, in particular an assembly of the citizens of a city, as in {{Bibleverse||Acts|19:32-41}}, is the [[New Testament]] term referring to the Christian Church (either a particular [[Church (congregation)|local group]] or the [[Body of Christ#The Church|whole body of the faithful]]). In the [[Septuagint]], the Greek word "ἐκκλησία" is used to translate the [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] "קהל" ([[qahal]]). Most [[Romance languages|Romance]] and [[Celtic languages]] use derivations of this word, either inherited or borrowed from the [[Latin]] form ''ecclesia''.

The [[English language]] word "church" is from the [[Old English]] word ''cirice'' or ''[[Circe]]'', derived from [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] ''*kirika'', which in turn comes from the Greek {{lang|grc|κυριακή}} ''kuriakē'', meaning "of the Lord" (possessive form of {{lang|grc|κύριος}} ''kurios'' "ruler" or "lord"). ''Kuriakē'' in the sense of "church" is most likely a shortening of {{lang|grc|κυριακὴ οἰκία}} ''kuriakē oikia'' ("house of the Lord") or {{lang|grc|ἐκκλησία κυριακή}} ''ekklēsia kuriakē'' ("congregation of the Lord").<ref name=etymonline>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Harper |first=Douglas |encyclopedia=Online Etymology Dictionary |title=church |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=church |access-date=2008-01-18 |year=2001 |quote=O.E. ''cirice'' "church," from W.Gmc. *''kirika'', from Gk. ''kyriake'' (''oikia'') "Lord's (house)," from ''kyrios'' "ruler, lord."}}</ref> Some grammarians and scholars say that the word has uncertain roots and may derive from the [[Anglo-Saxon]] "kirke" from Latin "circus" and the Greek "kuklos" for "circle", which shape is the form in which many religious groups met and gathered.<ref>[http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Smith%27s%20Bible%20Dictionary.pdf] - Smith's Bible Dictionary from 1884, page 452. Retrieved October 20, 2019.</ref> Christian churches were sometimes called {{lang|grc|κυριακόν}} ''kuriakon'' (adjective meaning "of the Lord") in Greek starting in the 4th century, but ''ekklēsia'' and {{lang|grc|βασιλική}} ''[[basilikē]]'' were more common.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Harper |first=Douglas |encyclopedia=Online Etymology Dictionary |title=church |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=church |access-date=2008-01-18 |year=2001 |quote=Gk. ''kyriakon'' (adj.) "of the Lord" was used of houses of [[Christian worship]] since c. 300, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ''ekklesia'' or ''basilike''.}}</ref>

The word is one of many direct Greek-to-Germanic loans of Christian terminology, via the [[Goths]]. The Slavic terms for "church" ([[Old Church Slavonic]] {{lang|cu|црькꙑ}} [''crĭky''], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] {{lang|bg|църква}} [''carkva''], [[Russian language|Russian]] {{lang|ru|церковь}} [''cerkov'''], [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]] cerkev) are via the [[Old High German]] cognate {{lang|goh|chirihha}}.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}