chalice
n.n. a large, decorated cup used in religious ceremonies, especially for holding wine during a church service.
n. a large, ornate cup used in Christian liturgy for holding wine during the Eucharist.
The priest held the chalice high during the ceremony.
The museum displayed a gold chalice that had been used in the royal chapel for centuries.
Restoring the ancient chalice required careful cleaning of the intricate filigree work that had been tarnished by centuries of candle smoke and frequent use.
From Middle English chalis, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French chalice, collateral form of calice, borrowed from Latin calix, calicem (“cup”), of uncertain etymology. In view of Umbrian skalçeta (“sacrifical vessel”), perhaps from a Proto-Italic (s)kalik-, from Proto-Indo-European (s)kel-. Pokorny considered a parallel formation in Sanskrit कलश (kaláśa-, “(water-)jar, tub, pot, dish”), for Proto-Indo-European *kel-eḱ-, but De Vaan finds this unlikely. Alternatively, borrowed from Ancient Greek κύλιξ (kúlix) or an unattested variant thereof, maybe with contamination from κάλυξ (kálux, “shell, calyx”), but it is also possible that all were borrowed from related substrate words. Possible doublet of calyx and kelch. Compare Sumerian 𒃲(GAL).