altar

See also: Altar, áltár, and ältar

English

An altar in a monastery in Brandenburg, Germany

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English auter, inherited from Old English altar and borrowed from Old French auter, both derived from Latin altāre, probably related to adolere (“burn”); thus "burning place", influenced by altus (“high”). Displaced native Middle English wēved.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ôl′tər
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒl.tə/, /ˈɔːl.tə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔl.tɚ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑl.tɚ/

  Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒltə(ɹ), -ɔːltə(ɹ)
• Homophone: alter
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar (plural altars)

1. A table or similar flat-topped structure used for religious rites.
   • c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 9–14:

     To hawke, or els to hunt
     From the auter to the funt,
     Wyth cry unreverent,
     Before the sacrament,
     Wythin the holy church bowndis,
     That of our fayth the grownd is.

2. (informal) A raised area around an altar in a church; the sanctuary.
3. (figurative) Any (real or notional) place where something is worshipped or sacrificed to.
   • 2000, Alain Renaut, M. B. De Bevoise, “Hegel and Nietzsche”, in Era of the Individual: A Contribution to a History of Subjectivity‎^[1], Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 129, lines 19–25:

     […] now marking the end of ascetic rationalism, the monadology no longer implied a sacrifice of individuality on the altar of rationality.

Derived terms

• altarage
• altar bell
• altar boy
• altar bread
• altar call
• altar card
• altar carpet
• altar-cloth
• altar cloth
• altared
• altar girl
• altar guild
• altarist
• altarless
• altarlet
• altarlike
• altar of repose
• altarpiece
• altar poem
• altar screen
• altar server
• altar society
• altar stone
• altar-stone
• altar tomb
• altarware
• altar wine
• altarwise
• high altar
• Lady altar
• leave someone at the altar
• superaltar

Descendants

• → Maori: āta

Translations

flat-topped structure used for religious rites

• Afrikaans: altaar (af)
• Albanian: ilter m, altar (sq) m, therore (sq) f
• Amharic: መሠውያ (mäśäwya)
• Arabic: مَذْبَح m (maḏbaḥ), هَيْكَل m (haykal), مِحْرَاب m (miḥrāb)
• Aramaic: מדבחא m (madbḥā)
• Armenian: սեղան (hy) (seġan), խորան (hy) (xoran), բագին (hy) (bagin) (pagan)
• Azerbaijani: mehrab (az), qurbangah, səcdəgah
• Basque: aldare
• Belarusian: алта́р m (altár)
• Bengali: পূজাবেদি (bn) (pujabedi), বেদি (bn) (bedi)
• Biatah Bidayuh: panggoo bisadis
• Breton: aoter (br) f
• Bulgarian: олта́р (bg) m (oltár)
• Burmese: ယဇ် ပလ္လင် (my) (yaj pallang)
• Catalan: altar (ca) m
• Chavacano: altar
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 祭壇 / 祭坛 (zh) (jìtán), 聖壇 / 圣坛 (shèngtán)

• Chuukese: antare
• Cimbrian: altar
• Czech: oltář (cs) m
• Dalmatian: altur
• Danish: alter (da) n
• Dutch: altaar (nl) n
• Egyptian: (ḫꜣwt)
• Esperanto: altaro (eo)
• Estonian: altar (et)
• Ewe: vɔsamlekpui n
• Faroese: altar n
• Finnish: alttari (fi)
• French: autel (fr) m
• Galician: altar (gl) m
• Georgian: საკურთხეველი (saḳurtxeveli), სამსხვერპლო (samsxverṗlo)
• German: Altar (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌻𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌸𐍃 m (hunslastaþs)
• Greek: βωμός (el) m (vomós), Αγία Τράπεζα (el) f (Agía Trápeza) (Christian), θυσιαστήριο (el) n (thysiastírio)

  Ancient: βωμός m (bōmós), θυσιαστήριον n (thusiastḗrion) (Christian or Jewish)

• Gujarati: યજ્ઞવેદી (yajñavedī)
• Hebrew: מִזְבֵּ֫חַ (he) m (mizbeákh)
• Hindi: वेदी (hi) f (vedī)
• Hungarian: oltár (hu)
• Icelandic: altari (is) n
• Ido: altaro (io)
• Indonesian: altar (id), mezbah (id)
• Interlingua: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: altóir f
• Italian: altare (it) m
• Japanese: 祭壇 (ja) (さいだん, saidan)
• Kalmyk: мандл (mandl)
• Kannada: ಬಲಿಪೀಠ (kn) (balipīṭha), ಯಜ್ಞವೇದಿಕೆ (kn) (yajñavēdike)
• Kazakh: мехраб (mexrab), алтарь (altar)
• Khmer: បុចនីយដ្ឋាន (bocniiydthaan), អាសន (ʼasnô)
• Korean: 제단(祭壇) (ko) (jedan)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: please add this translation if you can

  Northern Kurdish: text (ku), mezheb (ku), sexan

• Kyrgyz: алтарь (altar)
• Lao: ຫີ້ງບູຊາ (hīng bū sā), ຮ້ານບູຊາ (hān bū sā)
• Latin: ara (la) f, altāre n, altar n
• Latvian: altāris (lv) m
• Lithuanian: aukuras m, altorius (lt) m
• Lombard: altar m
• Luxembourgish: Altor (lb)
• Macedonian: олтар m (oltar), жртвеник m (žrtvenik)
• Malay: mazbah, mezbah
• Malayalam: അൾത്താര (ml) (aḷttāra), മദ്ബഹാ (ml) (madbahā)
• Maltese: artal m
• Manx: altar m
• Maori: āta (Christian), tūāhu (pagan)
• Marathi: वेदी (vedī)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: тахилын ширээ (taxilyn širee)

• Nepali: वेदी (vedī)
• Norman: autel m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: alter (no) n (altar (no))

  Nynorsk: altar (no) n, alter (no) n

• Occitan: autar (oc) m
• Old Galician-Portuguese: altar m
• Old English: wēofod n
• Old Norse: altari, stalli m
• Old Saxon: altari
• Persian: محراب (fa) (mehrâb), مذبح (fa) (mazbah)
• Polish: ołtarz (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: altar (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਬੇਦੀ f (bedī), ਪੀਠ m (pīṭh)
• Romanian: altar (ro) n
• Russian: алта́рь (ru) m (altárʹ), же́ртвенник (ru) m (žértvennik)
• Scottish Gaelic: altair f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: жртвеник m, олтар m

  Roman: žrtvenik (sh) m, oltar (sh) m

• Sinhalese: පූජාසනය (pūjāsanaya)
• Slovak: oltár (sk) m
• Slovene: oltar (sl) m
• Spanish: altar (es) m
• Sranan Tongo: altari
• Swahili: altare (sw), madhabahu class n
• Swedish: altare (sv) n
• Tagalog: dambana (tl), altar
• Tajik: меҳроб (mehrob), мазбаҳ (mazbah)
• Tamil: பலிபீடம் (ta) (palipīṭam)
• Telugu: బలిపీఠము (te) (balipīṭhamu)
• Thai: แท่นบูชา (tɛ̂ɛn-buu-chaa)
• Tibetan: མཆོད་ཤོམས (mchod shoms), མཆོད་སྟེགས (mchod stegs)
• Turkish: sunak (tr), mihrap (tr)
• Ugaritic: 𐎎𐎄𐎁𐎈 (mdbḥ)
• Ukrainian: вівта́р (uk) m (vivtár)
• Urdu: قربان گاہ m (qurban gāh)
• Uzbek: mehrob (uz), altar
• Vietnamese: bàn thờ (vi)
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: allor f
• West Frisian: alter

Further reading

• “altar”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• artal, ratal, talar

Albanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈtaɾ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altár m

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Declension

Declension of altar

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	altar	altari	altarë	altarët
accusative		altarin
dative	altari	altarit	altarëve	altarëve
ablative			altarësh

Further reading

• “altar”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[2], 1980
• Newmark, L. (1999) “altar”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary‎^[3]

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin altāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əlˈta]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [alˈtaɾ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar m (plural altars)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Further reading

• “altar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “altar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “altar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish altar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈtaɾ/, [al̪ˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altár

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Cimbrian

Etymology

From Middle High German alter, altære, from Old High German altāri, from Latin altāre. Cognate with German Altar.

Noun

altar m (uncountable)

1. (Sette Comuni) altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

References

• “altar” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Estonian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin altāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑltɑr/, [ˈɑltɑr]

• Rhymes: -ɑltɑr
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar (genitive altari, partitive altarit)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

   Synonym: altarilaud

Declension

Declension of altar (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		altar	altarid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	altari
genitive			altarite
partitive		altarit	altareid
illative		altarisse	altaritesse altareisse
inessive		altaris	altarites altareis
elative		altarist	altaritest altareist
allative		altarile	altaritele altareile
adessive		altaril	altaritel altareil
ablative		altarilt	altaritelt altareilt
translative		altariks	altariteks altareiks
terminative		altarini	altariteni
essive		altarina	altaritena
abessive		altarita	altariteta
comitative		altariga	altaritega

Further reading

• “altar”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “altar”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
• altar in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse altari, from Old Saxon altari, from Latin altare (“altar”), cognate with Danish alter (“altar”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal̥.taɹ/
• Rhymes: -al̥taɹ
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar n (genitive singular altars, plural altar)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Declension

n3	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	altar	altarið	altar	altarini
accusative	altar	altarið	altar	altarini
dative	altari	altarinum	altarum	altarunum
genitive	altars	altarsins	altara	altaranna

Galician

altar, church of Saint Mary, Melide, Galicia.

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese altar (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin altāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈtaɾ/ [ɑl̪ˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar m (plural altares)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

   Synonym: ara

   • 1370, Ramón Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 660:

     […] et talloulle a cabeça dentro ẽno tẽplo, ante o altar.

     […] and he cut his head inside, in the temple, before the altar.

Derived terms

• altar maior

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “altar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “altar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “altar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch altaar, from Latin altāre.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈaltar/ [ˈal.t̪ar]
• Rhymes: -altar
• Syllabification: al‧tar

Noun

altar (plural altar-altar)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)
2. mazbah (sacrificial place)
3. (nautical term) a ladder on a ship's dock used to get up and down to and from the dock floor

Further reading

• “altar” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈal̪ˠ.t̪ˠəɾˠ]

Verb

altar

1. present indicative autonomous of alt
2. imperative autonomous of alt
3. present subjunctive autonomous of alt

Mutation

Mutated forms of altar

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
altar	n-altar	haltar	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈal.tar/, [ˈäɫ̪t̪är]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.tar/, [ˈäl̪t̪är]
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar n (genitive altāris); third declension

1. Alternative form of altāre (“altar”) (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Usage notes

In pre-Classical and Classical Latin, this noun only occurs in the plural as a plurale tantum.

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	altar	altāria
genitive	altāris	altārium
dative	altārī	altāribus
accusative	altar	altāria
ablative	altārī	altāribus
vocative	altar	altāria

Descendants

See altāre.

References

• “altar”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “altar”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[4]

Lombard

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈtɑːr/ (Milanese)
• Rhymes: -ɑːr
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar m (plural altar)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Manx

Noun

altar m (plural altaryn)

1. (religion) altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

altar n

1. form removed by a 1984 spelling decision; superseded by alter: altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Altar i Uvdal stavkyrkje

Etymology 1

From late Old Norse altari, from Old Saxon altari, itself taken from Latin altāre (“altar”).

Alternative forms

• alter
• altari (dialectal)

Noun

altar n (definite singular altaret, indefinite plural altar, definite plural altara)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

altar m

1. indefinite plural of alt

References

• “altar” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin altāre (“altar for burnt offerings”). Cf. also outeiro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈtaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar m (plural altares)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 7 (facsimile):

     Eſta e como ſanta Maria liurou a Abadeſſa prenne q̇ adormecera anto ſeu Altar chorando.

     This one is about how Holy Mary acquitted the pregnant abbess who had fallen asleep crying in front of her altar.

Descendants

• Galician: altar
• Portuguese: altar

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *aldrą, whence also Old English ealdor, Old Norse aldr.

Noun

altar n

1. age

Derived terms

• gialtar

Descendants

• Middle High German: alter
  • Alemannic German: Altar
  • Bavarian: Ålter, Oiter
  • German: Alter, Alda, Alla
    • → Luxembourgish: Alter
  • Yiddish: אַלטער (alter)

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese altar, from Latin altāre (“altar for burnt offerings”). Cf. also Portuguese outeiro.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /awˈtaʁ/ [aʊ̯ˈtah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /awˈtaʁ/ [aʊ̯ˈtah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /awˈtaɾ/ [aʊ̯ˈtaɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /awˈtaʁ/ [aʊ̯ˈtaχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /awˈtaɻ/ [aʊ̯ˈtaɻ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /alˈtaɾ/ [aɫˈtaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /alˈtaɾ/ [aɫˈtaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /alˈta.ɾi/ [aɫˈta.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar m (plural altares)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

Romanian

Alternative forms

• altariu — dated, rare

Etymology

Inherited from Latin altārium or altār, with the plural deriving from altāria. Compare oltar, a rare and dated variant which derives from the same source via a Slavic intermediary.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈtar/
• Rhymes: -ar
• Hyphenation: al‧tar

Noun

altar n (plural altare)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

   Synonym: pristol

2. communion table
3. chancel
4. shrine, sanctuary

   Synonym: sanctuar

Declension

Declension of altar

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	altar	altarul		altare	altarele
genitive-dative	altar	altarului		altare	altarelor
vocative	altarule			altarelor

Further reading

• “altar”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish altar (attested as far back as the Cantar de Mio Cid), from Latin altāre. See also otero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈtaɾ/ [al̪ˈt̪aɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: al‧tar

Noun

altar m (plural altares)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)
2. stone that separates the firebox from the hearth in reverberatory furnaces

Derived terms

• altar mayor
• mesa de altar
• paño de altar
• pie del altar
• sacramento del altar
• sacrificio del altar
• visita de altares
• visitar los altares

Descendants

• Chavacano: altar

Further reading

• “altar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• antal, artal — obsolete

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish altar, from Old Spanish altar, from Latin altāre. Doublet of alta.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔalˈtaɾ/ [ʔɐlˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: al‧tar

Noun

altár (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜎ᜔ᜆᜇ᜔)

1. altar (flat-topped structure used for religious rites)

   Synonyms: dalanginan, dambana, alta

Related terms

• altamayor

Further reading

• “altar”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613) Juan de Silva, editor, Vocabulario de lengua tagala: El romance castellano puesto primero‎^[5], La Noble Villa de Pila, page 47: “Altar) Altar (pc) C. de Igleſia v de otro lugar”
• Cuadrado Muñiz, Adolfo (1972) Hispanismos en el tagalo: diccionario de vocablos de origen español vigentes en esta lengua filipina, Madrid: Oficina de Educación Iberoamericana, page 27