Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “chapel” come from?

Chapel comes from Middle English chapelle, from Old French chapele, from Late Latin cappella, originally denoting a small cloak (Latin cappa) or a shrine containing one, ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root kauput- meaning head.

chapel (English): A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate...

Definitions

  1. A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate...

Ancestry of “chapel”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchchapelechapel
2Latincappellachapel; choir
3Latin-ellainflection of -ellus: ## nominative/vocative...
4Latin-ellusAlternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine...
5Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
6Proto-Italic-olos—
7Proto-Italic-elos—
8Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
9Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “chapel”

  • chapelmaster
  • antechapel
  • chapelgoer
  • chapelwarden
  • chapelman
  • minichapel
  • chapel-goer
  • chapelless
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →