Chapel \Chap"el\, n. [OF. chapele, F. chapelle, fr. LL. capella,
orig., a short cloak, hood, or cowl; later, a reliquary,
sacred vessel, chapel; dim. of cappa, capa, cloak, cape,
cope; also, a covering for the head. The chapel where St.
Martin's cloak was preserved as a precious relic, itself came
to be called capella, whence the name was applied to similar
paces of worship, and the guardian of this cloak was called
capellanus, or chaplain. See Cap, and cf. Chaplain.,
Chaplet.]
1. A subordinate place of worship; as,
(a) a small church, often a private foundation, as for a
memorial;
(b) a small building attached to a church;
(c) a room or recess in a church, containing an altar.
Note: In Catholic churches, and also in cathedrals and abbey
churches, chapels are usually annexed in the recesses
on the sides of the aisles. --Gwilt.
2. A place of worship not connected with a church; as, the
chapel of a palace, hospital, or prison.
3. In England, a place of worship used by dissenters from the
Established Church; a meetinghouse.
4. A choir of singers, or an orchestra, attached to the court
of a prince or nobleman.
5. (Print.)
(a) A printing office, said to be so called because
printing was first carried on in England in a chapel
near Westminster Abbey.
(b) An association of workmen in a printing office.
Chapel of ease.
(a) A chapel or dependent church built for the ease or a
accommodation of an increasing parish, or for
parishioners who live at a distance from the principal
church.
(b) A privy. (Law)
Chapel master, a director of music in a chapel; the
director of a court or orchestra.
To build a chapel (Naut.), to chapel a ship. See Chapel,
v. t., 2.
To hold a chapel, to have a meeting of the men employed in
a printing office, for the purpose of considering
questions affecting their interests.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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