baptistery
/ˈbaptɪst(ə)ri
/(also baptistry /ˈbaptɪstri/)
noun (plural baptisteries or baptistries)
1The part of a church used for baptism.The Reverend Kyle Lake, 33, was standing in water in a baptistery at University Baptist Church when he was electrocuted on Sunday morning....
- Positioned asymmetrically, an ornate, 17 th-century altarpiece marks the entrance to the baptistery and the nave just beyond.
- The Victorian church will have new lighting and a baptistery, the pews will be replaced by chairs and it will be redecorated throughout.
1.1 historical A building next to a church, used for baptism.It is in Ravenna that the earliest mosaics are preserved, in temple after temple, in museums, presbyteries, baptistries and churches....
- In Florence, charging for admissions started with the baptistery and the museum of the duomo - a nuisance that did not prevent visits or prayer in the church proper.
- On this panel, Brunelleschi painted a view of the baptistery from a representation that he had traced on and over its mirror reflection.
1.2(In a Baptist chapel) a sunken receptacle used for baptism by total immersion.I could open the baptistry and fill it with water and point a gun at someone's head and say, ‘You are being baptised or I'll shoot you dead.’...
- The original baptismal basin was incorporated into the installation and water flows continually among the pieces of the new baptistery.
- To give a more vivid demonstration of the accuracy of his painting, he bored a small hole in the panel with the baptistery painting at the vanishing point.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French baptistere, via ecclesiastical Latin from ecclesiastical Greek baptistērion, from baptizein 'immerse, baptize'.