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. Ibid., 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. trans. 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]. Ibid., Deut. xvi. 13. The solempte of the tabernaclis. Ibid., 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), of testimony, and 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 ye Leuites toke the Arke, & brought 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. 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. G. P. R. 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. Brieve Cron. Erlis Ross (1850), 17. He brought home [for the kirk] an tabernacle.
1716. in J. O. Payne, Rocs. Eng. Cath. of 1715 (1889), 130. A tabernacle of silver belonging to y1 Altar.
1853. Dale, trans. 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. Now 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 is 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. Ibid. (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 that 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.
