Ciboria

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of canopy or covering used traditionally over altars in churches to symbolize the divine presence
2. An architectural feature often found in Christian places of worship, typically serving as a decorative shelter over an altar
3. A structure, usually elaborately designed, that provides a distinguished covering for the altar area during religious ceremonies

Etymology: "Ciboria" is the plural of "ciborium," and the singular's story starts with a plant. In ancient Greek, "kibōrion" referred to the cupulate seed pod of the Egyptian water-lily, and it could also mean a drinking-cup shaped from that pod. The resemblance between the seed pod and a cup is what linked the two senses. The word then passed into Medieval Latin as "cibōrium," where it meant "drinking-cup." Over time its sense narrowed in the Church, and it came to name the covered vessel that holds consecrated bread for Communion, with the older cup meaning giving way to that ecclesiastical use. The same Greek-to-Latin lineage also produced the Italian "cimborio," a doublet that eventually came to mean a dome or canopy structure, which shows how one ancient image of a seed pod spread into several unrelated objects.