▪ I. tabernacle, n.
(ˈtæbənæk(ə)l)
Forms: 3– tabernacle; also 5–6 taburn-, 6 tabarn-; 4 -acil, 4–5 -akile, 4–6 -akil(l, -akle, 5 -akille, -akyl(le.
[a. F. tabernacle (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. tabernāculum tent, booth, shed, dim. of taberna hut, booth. Used first in special sense 2, from Old Test. history.]
1. A temporary dwelling; generally movable, constructed of branches, boards, or canvas; a hut, tent, booth.
| 1382 Wyclif Num. xxiv. 5 How feyr thi tabernaclis, Jacob, and thi tentis, Yrael. ― Mark ix. 4 Maistir..make we here thre tabernaclis, oon to thee, oon to Moyses, and oon to Helye. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 66/2 Dauid toke the heed of Golye and brought it in to Jherussalem and his armes he brought in to his tabernacle. 1535 Coverdale Heb. xi. 9 By faith was he a straunger in the londe of promes..& dwelt in tabernacles [Wyclif litel housis]. 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 54 Some of these Tabernacles [of the Tartars] may quickely be taken asunder, and set together againe. c 1618 Moryson Itin iv. i. (1903) 44 When his Tents were once pitched, then all the Army..pitched their Tents or Tabernacles about him, in a huge Circuite of grounde. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 433 Frescati..derives its name from the arbours or tabernacles built by the inhabitants of Tusculum, when their city was demolished..a.d. 1191. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 223 The tabernacle was originally a rude hut, formed of intertwined branches. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. iii. 109 Some of them..would as soon have sought Kamschatka, as a place wherein to pitch their tabernacle and pursue their fortune. |
b. Feast of Tabernacles: a Jewish festival, commemorating the dwelling of the Israelites in tents during their sojourn in the wilderness, held from the 15th to the 23rd of Tisri (October). It was also called the Feast of Ingathering, and was observed as a thanksgiving for the harvest.
| 1382 Wyclif Lev. xxiii. 34 The fiftenthe day of this seuenthe moneth shulen be the cesynge dayes of the tabernacles [1388 the feries of tabernaclis]. ― Deut. xvi. 13 The solempte of the tabernaclis. ― Zech. xiv. 16 That thei..halewe the feest of tabernaclis. 1535 Coverdale John vii. 2 The Iewes feast of Tabernacles [Tindale the iewes tabernacle feast] was at hande. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 79 The feast of tabernacles was the yearly remembrance of God's miraculous guidance and support of Israel through the wilderness. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 25 Sept. 3/2 More than any of the other Jewish festivals, Tabernacles claims to be a holyday distinctly commemorative of the harvest. |
2. spec. in Jewish Hist. The curtained tent, containing the Ark of the Covenant and other sacred appointments, which served as the portable sanctuary of the Israelites during their wandering in the wilderness and afterwards till the building of the Temple. Also called tabernacle of the congregation (or meeting), tabernacle of testimony, and tabernacle of witness.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3174 Gold and siluer he hauen vt-broȝt, Ðe tabernacle ðor-wið wurð wroȝt. 1340 Ayenb. 236 Aaron and his children þet serueden ine þe tabernacle. 1535 Coverdale 2 Chron. v. 6 And y⊇ Leuites toke the Arke, & broughte it vp with the Tabernacle of witnesse, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tabernacle. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xxiv. 219 The Tabernacle was a moveable Temple. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. vii. 142 The most remarkable vestige of the nomadic state of the nation was the Tabernacle or Tent..the shelter of the Ark. |
b. Applied to a portable shrine used in heathen or idolatrous worship.
| 1382 Wyclif Amos v. 26 And ȝe han born tabernaclis to Moloch, ȝour god. [Also in later versions.] |
c. Transferred to the Jewish temple, as continuing the sacred functions and associations of the earlier tabernacle.
| 1388 Wyclif Heb. xiii. 10 We han an auter, of which thei that seruen to the tabernacle, han not power to ete. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxv[i]. 2 At Salem is his tabernacle, & his dwellinge in Sion. 1653 Milton Hirelings Wks. 1851 V. 345 The Levitical and Ceremonial service of the Tabernacle..which is now abolish'd. |
3. fig. In phraseology chiefly of biblical origin: A dwelling-place. a. spec. The dwelling-place of Jehovah, or of God.
Orig. with reference to the Jewish tabernacle or temple.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xiv. 1 Lord wha sall won in þi tabernakile? Ibid. xxvi. 9 He hid me in his tabernakill in day of illis. 1382 Wyclif Rev. xxi. 3 Lo! the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he shal dwelle with hem. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 90 O Lord quha sall in heuin dwell with the, In thy tryumphant throne and Tabernakil? 1831 Landor Guzman & Son 17 Wks. 1846 II. 610 The brave man's breast Is God's pure tabernacle. |
b. gen. A dwelling-place, a dwelling, a place of abode.
| 1382 Wyclif Job xii. 6 The tabernaclis of reueres abounden. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 13 b, For euery good chrysten man and woman a tabernacle of glory. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. iii. (1636) 105 They deserue to be receiued into the eternall Tabernacles. 1845 Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. in Encycl. Metrop. (1847) II. 572/1 The portion from the encompassing whole, which hath taken up its tabernacle in these our bodies. 1860 Hawthorne Marb. Faun (1879) II. viii. 84 How undesirable it is to build the tabernacle of our brief lifetime out of permanent materials. 1891 F. Tennyson Niobe Poems 346 And all The crowned Gods in their high tabernacles Sigh unawares. |
c. Applied to the human body regarded as the temporary abode of the soul or of life.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. iii. 26 (Camb. MS.) Arthow now comen fyrst A sodeyn gest in to the shadwe or tabernacle of this lyf? 1382 Wyclif 2 Peter i. 14 The puttyng off of my tabernacle is swift. 1557 N.T. (Genev.) 2 Cor. v. 1 We knowe that if the tabernacle of this our earthy howse shalbe destroyed, we haue a building geuen of God..eternal in heauen. 1596 Spenser Hymn Hon. Beautie 142 Many a gentle mynd Dwels in deformed tabernacle drownd. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 599 True image of the Father,..enshrin'd In fleshly Tabernacle, and human form. 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1818) 118 These earthly tabernacles will be transformed into the likeness of Christ's glorious body. 1841 James Brigand i, The spirit was busy in its tabernacle dealing with high thoughts. |
4. † a. An ornate canopied structure, as a tomb or shrine; in quot. c 1430, an ornate structure in a pageant. Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 466 Tours þe gode kniȝt..Brut let bringe an erþe..& let vair tabernacle in honur of him rere. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 181 Tombes opon tabernacles tyld opon lofte, Housed in hirnes harde set abouten. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8813 When this taburnacle atyrit was..Thai closit hit full clanly, all with clene ambur. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 10 In Cornhille..To do plesaunce to his majesté, A tabernacle surmontyng of beauté Ther was ordeyned. ? a 1500 Maundevile & Sultan of Egypt 95 in Rel. Ant. II. 115 Than the body they bryng unto that place Wher he salle ly armet in his wede, In a tabernacle or a case, Right preciose. |
b. A canopied niche or recess in a wall or pillar, to contain an image.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 100 But many..Babewinnes and pinacles, Imageries and tabernacles, I saw. 1389 Eng. Gilds (1870) 51 An ymage of seynt Wylyam, standyng in a tabernakle, in þe chirche of seynt Margarete of Lenne. 1487–8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 142 Maistres Agnes Breten did do gilte & paynte the tabernacle of owr lady with in þe queer. 1536 Reg. Riches in Antiq. Sarisb. (1771) 194 A Tabernacle of Ivory, standing upon four feet, with two leaves, and an ymage of our Lady in the middle. 1862 Baring-Gould Iceland (1863) 237 On either side are tabernacles or niches, containing figures. |
† c. A canopy of tabernacle-work over a throne or stall, esp. the abbot's stall in a choir. Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1671 For the souerayn hym selfe was a sete rioll,..Attyret with a tabernacle of Eyntayill fyn. a 1400–50 Alexander 5645 A tabernacle ouir þe trone tildid vp on loft. |
5. Eccl. An ornamented receptacle for the pyx containing the consecrated host.
| 1487–8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 131 Rynges and hookes to henge the clothe for the newe tabernacle. 1546 Bale Eng. Votaries i. (1548) 19 b, Pranked vp with tabernacles & lyghtes, sensynges & massinges. a 1615 Brieue Cron. Erlis Ross (1850) 17 He brought home [for the kirk] an tabernacle. 1716 in J. O. Payne Recs. Eng. Cath. of 1715 (1889) 130 A tabernacle of silver belonging to y⊇ Altar. 1853 Dale tr. Baldeschi's Ceremonial 301 He..opens the Tabernacle, genuflects, and takes out the ciborium. 1885 Cath. Dict. 717/1 In most English [R.C.] churches the tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament is placed over the chief altar. |
6. A place of worship distinguished in some way from a church. a. A temporary place of worship; esp. applied to the structures temporarily used during the rebuilding of the churches destroyed by the Fire of London in 1666.
| 1693 Evelyn Diary 19 Feb., The Bp. of Lincoln preach'd in the afternoon at the Tabernacle neere Golden Square, set up by him. 1695 Sir J. Bramston Autobiog. May (Camden) 389 She [Lady Dyke] was at morninge or euening prayer in the church or tabernacle daily. 1711 Jrnl. Ho. Com. XVI. 582 Allowing the 18 chapels or tabernacles to be capable of receiving as many persons as 8 churches. 1739 Act 12 Geo. II, c. 7 Preamble, The parishioners [of Ealing] were obliged to assemble for Divine worship in a slight Timber Tabernacle. |
b. Applied frequently to the meeting-houses or places of worship of Protestant Nonconformists, esp. when not of ecclesiastical architecture.
Sometimes part of the title, as Whitefield's Tabernacle in Tottenham Court Road, London, and the Metropolitan Tabernacle built for Mr. Spurgeon; chiefly so used by Baptists and some Methodists. In Scotland, early in the 19th century, commonly applied to the places of worship of the Independents or Congregationalists (‘Tabernacle-people’). Otherwise, the name was mostly applied in contempt.
| 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man i. i, I believe she would spread a horse laugh through the pews of a tabernacle. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 116 A great number of methodist tabernacles. 1805 J. Brown (Gartmore) Vind. Presbyt. Ch. Govt. ii. 13 note, The tabernacle-churches in Scotland require their members to stand in singing. 1820 Southey Wesley II. 357 They called it [the shed built as a preaching place for Whitefield] a Tabernacle in allusion to the moveable place of worship of the Israelites. a 1878 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) I. 182 Pewing which would disgrace a tabernacle of the last century. c 1880 Allen Guide to Nottingham 33 The next building on the main road of any note is known as The Tabernacle..and is a Baptist Chapel. |
c. fig. Applied to the ‘edifice’ which for the time enshrines the principles of a party.
| 1902 Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman Sp. at Leicester 19 Feb., I do not know down to this moment whether Lord Rosebery speaks to us from the interior of our political tabernacle or from some vantage-ground outside. 1902 Ld. Rosebery in Times 21 Feb. 6/1 Speaking pontifically within his ‘tabernacle’ last night, he [Sir H. C.-B.] anathematised my declarations on the ‘clean slate’ and Home Rule... I remain, therefore, outside his tabernacle, but not, I think, in solitude. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 26 Feb. 6/3 Dr. Heber Hart..is convinced that the principles of the League can be effectively advocated only by those who remain within the tabernacle of the party, whoever may be the Chief Rabbi for the time being. |
7. Naut. An elevated socket or step for the mast of a river-boat, or a post to which the mast is hinged, that it may be lowered to pass bridges.
| 1877 in Knight Dict. Mech. 1886 Field 13 Feb. 209/3 The mizen mast to be stepped in a tabernacle on a false transom in front of the rudder head. 1889 H. M. Doughty Friesland Meres 356, I watched the tabernacle anxiously; the strain must be enormous; we must have shrouds set up. 1892 ― Wherry in Wendish L. 15 Her one mast, very far forward, is as high nearly as her length, and balanced in a tabernacle with a ton and more of lead. |
† 8. An alleged term for a company of bakers.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans f vj b, A Tabernacle of bakers. |
9. attrib. and Comb. tabernacle-niche, a niche having a canopy of tabernacle-work over it; tabernacle roof, a roof which slopes at the ends, as well as the sides, to a central ridge shorter than the side-walls; tabernacle-spire, a spire ornamented with many tabernacles or canopied niches; tabernacle-work, (a) the ornamental carved work or tracery usual in canopies over niches, stalls, or pulpits, and in the carved screens of churches; (b) architectural work in which tabernacles form the characteristic feature.
| 1526 Tindale John vii. 2 Tabernacle feast [see 1 b, quot. 1535]. 1774 Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772, 2 The tabernacle work in the choir is very neat. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 133 The ornamental open work over the stalls is called tabernacle work. 1842 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. V. 121/2 The Tabernacle-spire also is one of which there is no example in this country. 1886 Willis & Clark Cambridge III. 286 A central tabernacle-niche, and on each side of it a narrow square-headed window. |
▪ II. ˈtabernacle, v.
[ad. med.L. tabernāculā-re (1342 in Du Cange: rendering Gr. σκηνοῦν in John i. 14), f. tabernāculum: see prec.]
1. intr. To occupy a tabernacle, tent, or temporary dwelling, or one that can be shifted about; to dwell for a time, to sojourn: usually fig., in devotional or poetical language, said of the sojourning of Christ on earth or ‘in the flesh’, and of the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ; also of men as spiritual beings dwelling in the ‘fleshly tabernacle’ of the body.
| 1653 J. Collinges Caveat for Prof. xiv. 69 The Evangelist Saint John, Joh. i. 14 saith, He tabernacled amongst us. 1667 I. Pennington Quest. to Prof. Chr. 20 Is it the flesh and blood of him, who took, tabernacled and appeared in the Body? 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iv. 91 That of Paul 2 Cor. xii. 9..that the power of Christ might tabernacle or dwel on me. 1847 C. Rossetti Face of Deep (1892) 454 Not with the sparrow building here a house; But with the swallow tabernacling so As still to poise alert to rise and go. 1872 Liddon Elem. Relig. iii. 94 It is..as personal spirits, tabernacling in bodily forms, that we men are capable of religion. 1876 C. M. Davies Unorth. Lond. 188 Tabernacling first in a room in Burton Street. 1881 N.T. (R.V.) John i. 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt [marg. tabernacled: Gr. ἐσκήνωσεν] among us. |
2. trans. To place in a tabernacle; to enshrine.
| 1822 Milman Mart. Antioch iii. 116 In thee the light, Creation's eldest born, was tabernacled. 1891 Tablet 21 Nov. 825 In any church in this land in which Jesus is tabernacled and has found a home. 1896 Cath. News 25 Apr. 6/6 The real presence of God..tabernacled in yon loving place. |
Hence ˈtabernacling vbl. n., dwelling in a tabernacle or tent; sojourning; temporary abode.
| 1685 J. Scott Chr. Life (1699) V. 246 It is no note of distinction between these two dwellings or tabernaclings of Christ. 1856 Ruskin Mod. Paint. IV. v. vi. §9. 89 This tabernacling of the unendurable sun with men. 1866 J. G. Murphy Comm. Exod. xxiii. 16 The feast of tabernacles, because the tabernacling of the people in the wilderness was then commemorated. |