noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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UK, US:/ˈt͡ʃæl.ɪs/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ælɪs
CMU ARPABET:CH AE1 L IH0 S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A large drinking cup, often having a stem and base and used especially for formal occasions and religious ceremonies.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: goblet
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A kind of water-cooled pipe for smoking cannabis.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a bowl-shaped drinking vessel; especially the Eucharistic cup
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: goblet
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cup
Narrower terms: grail, Holy Grail, Sangraal
History
Etymology
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).
Across languages
Translations
77 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
këlshejt
— large drinking cup
Arabic:
صُوَاع
(ṣuwāʕ)
— large drinking cup
Belarusian:
паці́р
(pacír)
— large drinking cup
Belarusian:
ку́бак
(kúbak)
— large drinking cup
Belarusian:
ча́ша
(čáša)
— large drinking cup
Belarusian:
ке́ліх
(kjélix)
— large drinking cup
Bulgarian:
поти́р
(potír)
— large drinking cup
Bulgarian:
ку́бок
(kúbok)
— large drinking cup
Catalan:
calze
— large drinking cup
Chinese Mandarin:
聖爵 /圣爵
(shèngjué)
— large drinking cup
Czech:
kalich
— large drinking cup
Danish:
kalk
— large drinking cup
Dutch:
kelk
— large drinking cup
Esperanto:
kaliko
— large drinking cup
Estonian:
karikas
— large drinking cup
Faroese:
kalikur
— large drinking cup
Faroese:
steyp
— large drinking cup
Finnish:
kalkki
— large drinking cup
Finnish:
malja
— large drinking cup
Finnish:
pikari
— large drinking cup
French:
calice
— large drinking cup
West-Frisian:
tsjelk
— large drinking cup
Galician:
cáliz
— large drinking cup
Georgian:
ბარძიმი
(barʒimi)
— large drinking cup
Georgian:
ფიალა
(piala)
— large drinking cup
Georgian:
თასი
(tasi)
— large drinking cup
German:
Kelch
— large drinking cup
Greek:
κύπελλο
(kýpello)
— large drinking cup
Greek:
δισκοπότηρο
(diskopótiro)
— large drinking cup
