Faith & RitualGreek → English
Iconostasis
/ˌaɪkəˈnɒstəsɪs/noun
The screen of icons separating the sanctuary from the nave in an Orthodox church.
The Greek roots
εἰκών
eikṓn
image, likeness
στάσις
stásis
a standing, a placing
Literally: “image stand”
The story of the word
The name is plain description: a stand for images. What began as a low chancel barrier in the early church grew into the full tiered wall familiar from Russian churches, largely in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Its central opening is the royal doors, through which only the clergy pass, and the row above them is the deesis, Christ flanked by the Virgin and the Baptist in permanent intercession.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
iconiconographyhypostasisstasis
In a sentence
The iconostasis was carved locally and painted by a monk from Mount Athos.
Children stand at the front where they can see through the royal doors.