altar 
gences, as the liberty of celebrating votive masses even on 
feast-days, the benefit of souls in puivatury, or various 
privileges personal to the individual visiting it. 
altarage (al'tar-aj), . [< ME. awtcrai/e, < OP. 
autermji' : see altar and -age.] 1. Offerings 
made upon an altar or to a church. 2. The 
honorarium or stipend received by a priest from 
offerings and gifts on account of services at the 
altar. Sometimes called small tithes and ultur- 
159 
altar-lantern (artar-lan"tern), n. A term oc- 
casionally found in old records describing the 
lanterns which were used in lieu of simple wax 
tapers for an altar, when erected temporarily 
and out of doors. On the continent of Europe they 
are found in the sacristies of many churches, and are 
frequently used, carried on either side of the crucifix, at 
funerals and solemn processions of the blessed sacrament, 
in those divisions of the church which practise reservation 
of the holy eucharist. Lee, Eccles. Terms. 
All these [curates] lyve upon bare Altarages, as they 
tearnie them, which Mod knmveth are very small, and were 
wont to lyve upon the gayne of Masses, Dirges, Shryvings, 
and soche lyke tvumperye. 
Sir II. Sidney, State Papers, in O'Cuiry's Ane. Irish, 1. 112. 
3. In Scotland, formerly, an endowment granted 
for the saying of masses for deceased friends 
at a particular altar. 
altar-board (al'tar-bord), n. In the Coptic 
Ch., a movable wooden panel, carved with a 
cross in the center and with sacred letters and 
devices around it. It rests in a recess on the top of 
the stone altar, and supports the chalice and paten during 
the mass : a reversal of the Western rule, for which see 
altar, 2, and altar-flab. A. J. Sutler, Coptic Churches, 
II. i. 3-5. 
altar-bread (al'tar-bred), . Bread prepared 
for the eucharist. Unleavened bread is required for 
this purpose in the Roman Catholic 
Church, and is used in many Anglican 
churches, in which either leavened or 
unleavened bread is permitted. In both 
the latter is made into small thin disks 
or wafers, called severally altar-breads, 
usually stamped with some emblem, as 
the cross or crucifix, or I. H. S. In the 
former church, after consecration, the 
altar-bread is called host (see hast), and 
the wafers are of two sizes, the larger for 
the priest, the smaller for the people. 
The Greek Church uses leavened bread Altar-bread Box 
especially made for the purpose. See 
oblate, n., 1. 
altar-card (al'tar-kard), . A printed copy of 
certain portions of the mass, which the priest 
cannot conveniently readf rom the missal. Altar- 
cards are placed at the center and at each end of the altar. 
They are of modern introduction, and are not essential to 
the service. 
altar-carpet (artar-kar' / pet),i. 1. The carpet 
covering the raised floor in front of the altar, 
and generally the altar-steps as well. 2. 
Rarely, a covering for the altar. 
altar-cavity (al'tar-kav"i-ti), n. A niche or 
chamber in the body of an altar, designed to 
contain relics. This was called sepulchrum in the Latin 
Church, thalattsa or thalasridion in the Greek Church, and 
seems to have existed universally as late as the fifteenth 
century. The Coptic churches of Egypt still have altar- 
cavities. A. J. Butler, Coptic Churches, II. i. See con- 
fe*nionarti. 
altar-chime (al'tar-chlm), n. A set of three 
small bells mounted in a stand, and used for 
ringing by hand in the Roman Catholic Church 
altar-cloth (al'tar-kloth), n. [< ME. alter-, aw- 
ter-clotlt : see altar and cloth.] A cover for an 
altar in a Christian church. It is a general term, 
and includes the close case of linen which was used in the 
middle ages and removed only for washing the altar, 
the later cerecloth (which see), and the temporary cover- 
ings, whether of white linen, or of rich stuff, or of em- 
broidery. The different coverings for the altar have differ- 
ent names. See antependium, frontal, and superfrontal. 
altar-cross (al'tar-kr&s), n. A fixed or mova- 
ble cross, standing upon an altar. 
altar-curtain (al't&r-ker'tan), n. A hanging 
suspended from rods at tie sides of ancient 
ciboria, or altar-canopies, or at the back and 
sides of an altar. See cut under altar, 2. 
altar-cushion (al'tar-kush"on), . A small 
cushion laid upon an altar to support the ser- 
vice-book. 
altar-desk (al'tar-desk), n. A small desk used 
like an altar-cushion. 
altar-dues (al'tar-duz), n. pi. Same as altar- 
age, 2. 
altar-fire (al'tar-fir), n. A ceremonial fire on 
an altar. 
altar-frontal (art&r-frun'tal), n. The orna- 
mental front, usually movable, of the altar in 
a Christian church. It is sometimes of wood, richly 
carved and gilded, or with painted panels, or incrusted 
with enamels or glass. When it is of stuff it is called 
<iiil<']>endiuiii, and its color is usually changed to corre- 
spond with the church festivals and seasons. 
altar-herse (al'tiir-hers), . A term sometimes 
used to describe the frame on which a tem- 
porary canopy was erected over an altar on 
special solemnities and festivals of the highest 
rank. Lee, Eccles. Terms. 
altarist (ul'tiir-ist), . [< altar + -ist] In old 
law : (a) An appellation given to the priest to 
whom the altarage belonged. (&) A chaplain. 
Also called altar-thane. 
altar-ledge (al'tjir-lej), . A step or ledge be- 
hind the altar of a church and raised slightly 
above it, to receive ceremonial lights, flowers, 
or other ornaments or symbols. Sometimes there 
are two or more steps or ledges. In modern usage often 
called retable, though the retable is more properly higher, 
and in itself an important architectural or decorative fea- 
ture. See retable. Also termed, but incorrectly, sniper- 
altar. 
altar-light (al'tar-lit), n. A light placed upon 
or near an altar, and having a symbolical mean- 
ing. In the Homau Catholic Church the lights are often 
set upon the altar itself ; in the Church of England they 
always stand on an altar-ledge behind or beside the altar. 
altarpiece (al'tar-pes), n. A decorative screen, 
retable, or reredos placed behind an altar, con- 
sidered especially as a work of art. In churches 
of the Renaissance period it is more usually a painting of 
a sacred subject, but in those of the early middle ages it 
is frequently of embossed silver or of rich gold and en- 
ameled work set with jewels, as the famous Pala d'Oro of 
St. Mark's in Venice. 
As the altar stood free in the choir, and the altar-jnecc. 
was to be seen from behind as well as from before, both 
sides were to lie covered with painting. 
C. E. Norton, Church-building in Middle Ages, p. 142. 
altar-protector (artar-pro-tek"tor), . The 
name given to a covering of green cloth, baize, 
or velvet, which, exactly fitting the top of the 
altar, is placed on it at all times when the altar 
is not being used, to protect the sacred linen 
from dust and defilement. Lee, Eccles. Terms. 
altar-rail (al'tar-ral), n. A low rail or barrier 
running transversely to the main axis of the 
church and separating the sanctuary from those 
portions of the church that are in front of it. 
Also called communion-rail, as communicants kneel at 
this rail to receive the eucharist. 
altar-screen (al'tar-skren), . In arch.: (a) 
A partition of stone, wood, or metal, in early 
medieval usage represented by curtains, behind 
and at the sides of the high altar, and separat- 
ing the choir from the east end of the build- 
ing. (&) A reredos or retable. 
altar-side (al'tar-sld), n. That part of an altar 
which faces the congregation. 
altar-slab (al'tar-slab), n. The top, or a por- 
tion of the top, of a Christian altar; the altar 
proper, or mensa. It is the consecrated and there- 
fore the essential part, and is always in Western churches 
a single stone. In some Eastern churches the slab has a 
drain for water ; a few such instances are found in west- 
ern Europe, and all are probably traditional of an ancient 
custom of washing the altar on set occasions. 
altar-stairs (al'tar-starz), n. pi. Steps or stairs 
leading up to an altar. 
The great world's altar-xtairs, 
That slope thro' darkness up to God. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, Iv. 
altar-Stole (al'tar-stol), . A medieval orna- 
ment shaped like the ends of a stole, hanging 
down in front of the altar-cloth. Lee, Eccles. 
Terms. 
altar-stone (al'tar-ston), n. [< ME. awterstonc : 
see altar and stone.] An altar-slab ; the con- 
secrated slab or block of stone constituting an 
altar. See altar, 2. 
altar-table (al'tar-ta"bl), . 1. In a Christian 
church, the top or the consecrated portion of 
an altar; the altar proper, or mensa. 2. A 
name for one of the wooden tables which were 
substituted for the old altars in England in the 
seventeenth century, and used for the commu- 
nion where the old altars had been destroyed by 
the Roundheads. At first this table was placed by the 
reformers against the eastern wall in the position of the 
old stone altar. This position gave umbrage to the Puri- 
tans, who held that it was characteristic of the Church of 
Rome. Cromwell therefore caused the altar-table to be 
removed to the middle of the chancel, and to be surrounded 
with seats for the communicants. At the restoration it 
was almost universally replaced in its ancient position. 
When used it is covered with a white linen cloth. 
altar-thane (al'tar-than), . Same as altarist. 
altar-tomb (al'tiir-tom), . A raised tomb, or 
monument covering a tomb, of rectangular 
plan and covered by a flat slab or table, and 
presenting a general resemblance to an altar. 
It may be free and exposed on all four sides, or applied 
against or engaged in a wall; in the latter case there is 
often an architectural canopy or niche raised above it. 
The top often supports one or more recumbent figures in 
sculpture. 
altarwise (al'tar-wiz), adv. [< altar + -wine.] 
In the usual position of a church-altar, that is, 
alterage 
with ends toward the north and south and front 
toward the west. 
Was our communion table placed nltnr-ir'i*,' ! 
Evelyn, Diary, March 22, 1678. 
altazimuth (alt-az'i-muth), . [Contr. of al- 
titiute-azintuth.] An astronomical instrument 
for determining the altitudes and the azimuths 
of heavenly bodies. The telescope of the altazimuth 
is capable of being moved horizontally to any point of the 
compass, as well as vertically, and there are horizontal and 
vertical circles. A theodolite is a portable altazimuth. 
Altar-tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Dijon. 
alter (al'ter), v. [< ML. alterare, make other, 
< L. alter, other, < al- (seen in alms, other, 
alienus, of another, etc.: see alias, alien, etc.) 
+ compar. suffix -ter= E. -ther in other, whether, 
etc., and -ter in after, etc.] I. trans. 1. To 
make some change in ; make different in some 
particular ; cause to vary in some degree, with- 
out an entire change. 
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is 
gone out of my lips. Ps. Ixxxix. 34. 
These things are to be regretted, but not to be altered 
until liberality of sentiment is more universal. 
Washington, in Bancroft's Hist. Const., I. 443. 
There are speeches, some speeches of Demosthenes par- 
ticularly, in which it would be impossible to alter a word 
without altering it for the worse. Macaulay, History. 
2. To change entirely or materially; convert 
into another form or state : as, to alter a cloak 
into a coat; to alter an opinion. 
She promised that no force, 
Persuasion, no, nor death could alter her. 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
3. To castrate, emasculate, or spay, as an ani- 
mal. [United States.] 4f. To exchange. 
She that would alter services with thee. 
Shak., T. N., ii. 6. 
5f. To agitate: as, "altered and moved in- 
wardly," Milton, Areopagitica, p. l.=Syn. 1 and 
2. Alter, Change, modify, transform, transmute. In gen- 
eral alter is to change partially, while change is more com- 
monly to substitute one thing for another, or to make a 
material difference in a thing. 
I woo thee not with gifts. 
Sequel of guerdon could not alter me 
To fairer. Tennyson, (Enone. 
One who brings 
A mind not to be changed by place or time. 
Milton, P. L., 1. 253. 
II. intrans. To become different in some 
respect; vary; change. 
The law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 
Dan. vi. 8. 
Love alters not with his [Time's] brief hours and weeks. 
Shak., Sonnets, cxvi. 
To alter for the better is no shame. 
Dryden, Art of Poetry, iv. 915. 
In a day's wandering, you would pass many a hill, wood, 
and water-course, each perpetually altering in aspect as 
the sun shone out or was overcast. 
Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, xxiii. 
alterability (al"ter-a-bil'i-ti), n. [< alterable ; = 
F. alterabilite. ] The quality of being alterable ; 
susceptibility to change. 
The degree of alterability of the nutritive liquid should 
always be taken into account in experiments. 
Science, III. 520. 
alterable (al'ter-a-bl), a. [< alter + -able ; = P. 
alterable.] Capable of being altered, varied, or 
made different. 
A diminished proportion of caustic soda and sulphides 
is found in the liquors, the total caustic lime being alter- 
able at pleasure. Un, Diet., IV. 53. 
alterableness (al'ter-a-bl-nes), n. The quality 
of being alterable or "of admitting alteration ; 
variableness. 
alterably (al'ter-a-bli), adv. In an alterable 
manner ; so as to be altered or varied. 
alteraget (al'ter-aj), n. [< L. altor, a foster- 
father (< alere, nourish: see aliment, .), -f- 
-age.] The nourishing or fostering of a child. 
Sir J. Danes. 
