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Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it.


Basic meaning and etymology

As a common noun, ''kirk'' (meaning 'church') is found in Scots, Scottish English,
Ulster-Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people The Ulster Scots ( Ulster-Scots: ''Ulstèr-Scotch''; ga, Albanaigh Ultach), also called Ulster Scots people (''Ulstèr-Scotch fowk'') or (in North America) Scotch-Irish (''Scotch-Airisch'') ...
and some English dialects, attested as a noun from the 14th century onwards, but as an element in placenames much earlier. Both words, ''kirk'' and ''church'', derive from the Koine Greek κυριακόν (δωμα) (kyriakon (dōma)) meaning ''Lord's (house)'', which was borrowed into the Germanic languages in late antiquity, possibly in the course of the Gothic missions. (Only a connection with the idiosyncrasies of
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
explains how a Greek neuter noun became a Germanic feminine). Whereas ''church'' displays
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
palatalisation, ''kirk'' is a loanword from Old Norse and thus retains the original mainland Germanic consonants. Compare
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
s: Icelandic & Faroese ''kirkja'';
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
''kyrka'' (where the first ‘k’ was later palatalized as well); Norwegian ( Nynorsk) ''kyrkje'';
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
and Norwegian ( Bokmål) ''kirke''; Dutch and Afrikaans ''kerk'';
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
''Kirche'' (reflecting palatalization before unstressed front vowel); West Frisian ''tsjerke''; and borrowed into non-Germanic languages
Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...
''kirik'' and Finnish ''kirkko''.


Church of Scotland

As a proper noun, ''The Kirk'' is an informal name for the Church of Scotland, the country's national church. ''The Kirk of Scotland'' was in official use as the name of the Church of Scotland until the 17th century, and still today the term is frequently used in the press and everyday speech, though seldom in the Church's own literature. However, Kirk Session is still the standard term in church law for the court of elders in the local congregation, both in the Church of Scotland and in any of the other Scottish Presbyterian denominations.


Free Kirk

Even more commonly, ''The Free Kirk'' is heard as an informal name for the
Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...
, the remnant of an evangelical presbyterian church formed in 1843 when its founders withdrew from the Church of Scotland. See: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900) * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900) A pair of rhyming jibes remain from the time of the heated split of the Disruption in 1843 when about a third of the Auld Kirk of Scotland left to form the Free Kirk. The Free Kirkers who had sometimes given up homes as well as church buildings and started financially from scratch were taunted with the rhyme: “The Free Kirk, the wee kirk, the kirk without the steeple.” This rhyme linking the Free Kirk with the derogatory diminutive "wee" was offensive and a reply was devised in: “The Auld Kirk, the cauld kirk, the kirk without the people.”


High Kirk

''High Kirk'' is the term sometimes used to describe a congregation of the Church of Scotland which uses a building which was a cathedral prior to the Reformation. As the Church of Scotland is not governed by
bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, it has no cathedrals in the episcopal sense of the word. In more recent times, the traditional names have been revived, so that in many cases both forms can be heard: Glasgow Cathedral, as well as the ''High Kirk of Glasgow'', and
St. Giles' Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended ...
, as well as the ''High Kirk of Edinburgh''. The term High Kirk should, however, be used with some caution. Several towns have a congregation known as the High Kirk which were never pre-Reformation cathedrals. Examples include: *
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
, where the High Kirk is not the historic Dundee Parish Church known as St Mary's, but St David's; * Paisley where there were former congregations and parishes surrounding three churches: the High Kirk (now formally Oakshaw Trinity Church, but still retaining the High Kirk name), the Middle Kirk and the Laigh Kirk, the Middle Kirk no longer existing as a religious institution and none of the three names referred to Paisley's historic Abbey; *Stevenston High Kirk in
Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...
. There is no connection between the term 'High Kirk' and the term ' High Church', which is a type of Churchmanship within the Anglican Communion.


Kirk Session

The first court of Presbyterian polity where the Elders of a particular congregation gather as a Session or meeting to govern the spiritual and temporal affairs of the church.


Kirking ceremonies

The verb ''to kirk'', meaning 'to present in church', was probably first used for the annual church services of some Scottish town councils, known as the
Kirking of the Council Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...
. Since the re-establishment of the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
in 1999, the Kirking of the Parliament has become a fixed ceremony at the beginning of a session. Historically a newly married couple would attend public worship as husband and wife for the first time at their kirking. In Nova Scotia,
Kirking of the Tartan Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...
ceremonies have become an integral part of most Scottish Festivals and Highland Games.


Place names

''Kirk'' is found mainly as an element in many placenames of Scotland, England and countries of large
British expatriate British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...
communities.David Dorward, ''Scotland's Place-names'', 1995, p.82f. Scottish examples include
Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...
, Kirkwall and numerous
Kirkhill Kirkhill or Kirkhills may refer to a number of places. In Canada: * Kirkhill, Nova Scotia * Kirkhill, Ontario, an area of North Glengarry In Northern Ireland: * Kirkhills, a townland in County Antrim In Scotland: *Kirkhill industrial estate, near ...
s and Kirktons. Examples in England are Ormskirk and Kirkby in Lancashire, and
Kirkstall Kirkstall is a north-western suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on the eastern side of the River Aire. The area sits in the Kirkstall ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds West parliamentary constituency, represented by Rachel Reeves. Th ...
, Kirklees and
Kirklevington Kirklevington (also known as Kirk Leavington) is a village in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. At the 2011 census, the village had a population of 809. The civil parish had a population of 1,361. The village shares it ...
in Yorkshire. Newkirk, Oklahoma state of the United States, is another example. The element only found in place names of Anglo-Saxon origin but also in Anglo-Gaelic Southern Scottish names such as Kirkcudbright, a place around a Cudbright church. Here, the Gaelic element ''cil-'' (coming from a monk's cell) might have been expected to go with the Gaelic form of
Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nor ...
. The reason appears to be that ''kirk'' was borrowed into local Galwegian, it does not seem to have been a part of spoken Gaelic in the Highlands or Ireland. When the element appears in placenames of the former British empire, a distinction can be made between those where the element is productive ( named after a church) or transferred – from a place in Britain. Kirkland, a city in the United States, is an exception, being named after the surname of an English settler, Peter Kirk. The element ''kirk'' is also used in
anglicisation Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
s of continental European place names, originally formed from one of the continental Germanic cognates.
Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.French Flanders) is a rendering of Dutch West-Flemish dialect of ''Duunkerke'' or standard Dutch form of ''Duinkerke''.


Personal names

''Kirk'' is also in use as both a surname and a male forename. For lists of these, see
Kirk (surname) Kirk is a surname of Scottish people, Scottish and Northern English origin. Notable people Notable persons with that surname include: *Aidan Kirk (born 1986), New Zealand rugby player *Alan Goodrich Kirk (1888–1963), American admiral *Alejandro K ...
and
Kirk (given name) Kirk is a given name. Notable people with the name include: ;Arts *Kirk Covington, American musician * Kirk Docker, co-creator of Australian TV series ''You Can't Ask That *Kirk Franklin (1970– ), American gospel musician *Kirk Hammett (1962– ) ...
, and also
Kirkby (disambiguation) Kirkby is a Scottish and northern English name of Scandinavian origin, meaning "church town". It may refer to: Places in the United Kingdom * Kirkby, Merseyside * Kirkby, North Yorkshire * Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire ** Outwood Academy ...
. Parallels in other languages are far rarer than with placenames, but English '' Church'' and German ''Kirch'' can also be a surname.


See also

* Kirk Party


References

{{Portal bar, Calvinism, Scotland Church of Scotland Presbyterianism in Scotland Scottish words and phrases