English
chapel
Chapel comes from Late Latin cappella ‘little cloak; chapel’, a diminutive of cappa ‘cloak, cape’.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcappa1‘cloak’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcappella1‘little cloak; chapel’diminutive of cappa
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400chapele1‘chapel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chapele1‘a chapel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1613–1614chapel1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English chapel
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1613–1614, William Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: “give us the bones Of our dead kings, that…”.
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcappaWiktionary, English chapel‘cloak’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcappellaWiktionary, English chapel‘little cloak; chapel’diminutive of cappa
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400chapeleWiktionary, English chapel‘chapel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chapeleWiktionary, English chapel‘a chapel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1613–1614chapelWiktionary, English chapel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1613–1614, William Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: “give us the bones Of our dead kings, that…”
Linked words
pairs
- chapel and cappuccino both from Late Latin cappa ‘cape’
through Proto-Indo-European *kap- ‘head’
had, case, except, heavy, cash, accept, receive, catch, cable, heavily, capacity, behavior, capable, achieve, reception, capture, occupation, perception, recipe, recipient, chase, haven, behave, anticipation, anticipate, susceptible, deception, cater, hawk, caption, captive, capsule, cassette, conceive, deceive, captivity, deceptive, casket, deceit, conceivable, 134 more
through Proto-Indo-European *káput ‘head’
through Proto-Italic *kaput ‘head’
capitalism, capitalize, capitan, capote, capitaine, 61 more
through Latin caput ‘head’
capital, captain, cattle, chapter, chef, capitol, precipitation, capita, cad, mischief, mischievous, precipitate, capillary, chieftain, occipital, caddie, precipitous, capo, capitulate, escapade, jefe, scamper, dishevelled, chattel, chabot, cabochon, caput, 68 more
through Late Latin cappa ‘cloak, cape’
escape, cabin, cope, cape, cabana, capa, scamp, capuchin, kaput, 21 more
through Late Latin cappella ‘little cloak’
Today it means
noun A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “chapel”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Late Latin cappa / chapel