Skip to content
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

altar

/ˈɔl.tɚ/

Press play to hear how to pronounce altar.

American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
Watch on YouTube ↗

What does altar mean?

noun

  1. A table or similar flat-topped structure used for religious rites.
  2. (informal) A raised area around an altar in a church; the sanctuary.
  3. (figuratively) Any (real or notional) place where something is worshipped or sacrificed to.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈɔl.tɚ/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

It was a sort of worship in two steps, with the grand altar for the colonel and the lesser one for Thénardier.
Victor HugoLes MisérablesTranslated by Isabel Florence HapgoodProject Gutenberg ebook #135
The altar was on the hither side of the screen, and between it and the entrance were disposed several benches and chairs.
Henry JamesThe AmericanProject Gutenberg ebook #177
More book examples (3)
After the congregation was dismissed, these descended from the gallery, and took a seat against the wall most distant from the altar.
Frederick DouglassMy Bondage and My FreedomProject Gutenberg ebook #202
This he danced round the Ceratonian Altar, so called from its consisting of horns taken from the left side of the head.
PlutarchPlutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and RomansProject Gutenberg ebook #674
Tell them that you have extinguished one of the brightest and purest lights that ever burned at the altar of civil liberty.
Henry ClayHenry Clay's Remarks in House and SenateProject Gutenberg ebook #739