high altar
noun
: the principal altar in a church
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Before disassembly, the component parts of large items like the high altar were carefully labeled, photographed and documented, so each artifact could one day be put back together like a giant, sacred jigsaw puzzle. 
New York Times, 24 Dec. 2021 Archbishop Thabo Makgoba laid a small box containing Tutu's remains to rest in the floor in front of the high altar at St George’s Cathedral. Andrew Meldrum, ajc, 2 Jan. 2022 Two of the most striking items in the warehouse are a pair of white-marble angels that once flanked the high altar at the Church of All Saints, on Madison Avenue and 129th Street. New York Times, 24 Dec. 2021 In its place now, in the high altar of the oratory, hangs a copy commissioned in 2009 and painted from photographs of the original, a plucky facsimile that looks nothing like an authentic Caravaggio. Teju Cole, New York Times, 23 Sep. 2020 Even without the fire that damaged the medieval cathedral's roof, spire and high altar, older structures sometimes need loving repairs after years of weather and massive foot traffic take their toll. James Carroll, USA TODAY, 7 Aug. 2019 The choir was completed in 1170, the high altar in 1182. Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, 19 Apr. 2019 Next came the high altar and the nave, followed by the bases of the church façade around 1190. Hadley Keller, House Beautiful, 16 Apr. 2019 In 1182, under the reign of the new king, Philip II, the high altar was consecrated. National Geographic, 15 Apr. 2019 See More
New York Times, 24 Dec. 2021 Archbishop Thabo Makgoba laid a small box containing Tutu's remains to rest in the floor in front of the high altar at St George’s Cathedral. Andrew Meldrum, ajc, 2 Jan. 2022 Two of the most striking items in the warehouse are a pair of white-marble angels that once flanked the high altar at the Church of All Saints, on Madison Avenue and 129th Street. New York Times, 24 Dec. 2021 In its place now, in the high altar of the oratory, hangs a copy commissioned in 2009 and painted from photographs of the original, a plucky facsimile that looks nothing like an authentic Caravaggio. Teju Cole, New York Times, 23 Sep. 2020 Even without the fire that damaged the medieval cathedral's roof, spire and high altar, older structures sometimes need loving repairs after years of weather and massive foot traffic take their toll. James Carroll, USA TODAY, 7 Aug. 2019 The choir was completed in 1170, the high altar in 1182. Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, 19 Apr. 2019 Next came the high altar and the nave, followed by the bases of the church façade around 1190. Hadley Keller, House Beautiful, 16 Apr. 2019 In 1182, under the reign of the new king, Philip II, the high altar was consecrated. National Geographic, 15 Apr. 2019 See More Word History
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above