altar-wiseadv.
/ˈɔːltəwʌɪz/, /ˈɒltəwʌɪz/, U.S. /ˈɔltərˌwaɪz/, /ˈɑltərˌwaɪz/ Now rare.
After the manner of an altar, like an altar; spec. in the position of an altar in a church. Cf. altar-ways adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > altar > [adverb]
altar-wise1560
tablewise1636
altar-ways1638
1560 H. Machyn Diary (1848) 226 [He] dyd pryche..that day in the quen('s) chapell, the crosse and ij candylles bornyng and the tabulles standyng auter-wyse.
1562 in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1709) I. xxvii. 282 Thirdly, That the Table from henceforth stand no more Altarwise, but stand in such Place as is appointed by the Book of Common-Prayer.
1637 W. Laud Speech in Starr-chamber 56 The Holy Table ought to stand at the upper end of the Quire, North and South, or Altar-wise.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 370 In Altar-wise, a stately Pile they rear.
1793 S. Pegge Life Robert Grosseteste 212 The tomb was raised altar-wise, within..three niches on one side.
1859 D. Masson Life Milton I. 629 Fixing the communion-table altarwise at the east end of the chancel.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 762/2 The communion table..is placed altar-wise—that is, with its longer axis running north and south, and close against the east wall.
2001 L. Casson Everyday Life Anc. Egypt vii. 68 The way the pyramid was built was in tiers—battlement-wise, as some put it, altar-wise as others.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
adv.1560