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.
&fist; 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.
Chap"el (?), v. t.
1. To deposit or inter in a chapel; to
enshrine. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
2. (Naut.) To cause (a ship taken
aback in a light breeze) so to turn or make a circuit as to
recover, without bracing the yards, the same tack on which she
had been sailing.
