Faith & RitualGreek → English
Narthex
/ˈnɑːrθɛks/noun
The entrance hall running across the west end of a church, before the nave.
The Greek roots
νάρθηξ
nárthēx
giant fennel, hollow case
Literally: “fennel stalk, hollow container”
Follow a root:νάρθηξ1 word
The story of the word
In classical Greek νάρθηξ was the giant fennel, a plant with a hollow stalk used as a box for keeping things and as a splint for setting bones. Prometheus is said to have carried the stolen fire down inside one. Early churches gave the name to the long narrow porch where catechumens and penitents stood, kept out of the nave proper. The link is shape: something long, hollow and holding what is not yet ready to come out.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Greek → Medieval Latin → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
In a sentence
We waited in the narthex until the choir had finished processing.
The parish keeps its noticeboards and a coat rack in the narthex.