churching, vbl. n.
(ˈtʃɜːtʃɪŋ)
[f. church v.]
1. The public appearance of a woman at church to return thanks after childbirth, esp. in accordance with the Anglican ritual.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxxii. 500 His wife..was as than newly churched of a fayre sonne And he thought at her Churchyng to kepe a great feest at Tholouse. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, The Thanksgiving of Women after Child⁓birth, commonly called the Churching of Women. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Challenge Knts. Errant Wks. (1711) 232 They are now come back to Greenwich for the churching of the queen. 1837 Thackeray Ravenswing vi, He attended his mother to her churching. |
b. attrib. as churching pew.
| 1637 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 190 For 2 yeardes of kersey for a churching cloth, 7s. a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais iii. xli. 336 An uprising or Women Churching Treatment. |
2. Subjection to the influence of the church.
| 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Race Wks. (Bohn) II. 28 A tough, acrid, animal nature which centuries of churching and civilizing have not been able to sweeten. |