Standard Lemma guide

chaplain

name · noun · 4 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈt͡ʃæp.lɪn/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: CH AE1 P L AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A member of a religious body (who is often, although not always, of the clergy) officially assigned to provide pastoral care at an institution, group, private chapel, etc.

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 person without religious affiliation who carries out similar duties in a secular context.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a clergyman ministering to some institution

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clergyman, reverend, man of the cloth

Narrower terms: prison chaplain, hospital chaplain, military chaplain, padre, Holy Joe, sky pilot

History

Etymology

Variant of Chaplin.

From Middle English chapeleyn, from Old French chapelain, from Medieval Latin, Late Latin cappellānus, from cappella. Doublet of capelin. Displaced Old English handprēost.

Across languages

Translations

75 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: kapelan — member of a religious body
  • Arabic: قِسِّيس (qissīs) — member of a religious body
  • Arabic: قَسّ (qass) — member of a religious body
  • Arabic: قِسّ (qiss) — member of a religious body
  • Arabic: كَاهِن (kāhin) — member of a religious body
  • Armenian: կապելլան (kapellan) — member of a religious body
  • Belarusian: капела́н (kapjelán) — member of a religious body
  • Bulgarian: капела́н (kapelán) — member of a religious body
  • Carpathian Rusyn: капла́н (kaplán) — member of a religious body
  • Catalan: capellà — member of a religious body
  • Chinese Mandarin: 牧師 /牧师 (mùshī) — member of a religious body
  • Czech: kaplan — member of a religious body
  • Danish: kapellan — member of a religious body
  • Dutch: kapelaan — member of a religious body
  • Estonian: kaplan — member of a religious body
  • Finnish: kappalainen — member of a religious body
  • French: aumônier — member of a religious body
  • French: chapelain — member of a religious body
  • Galician: capelán — member of a religious body
  • Georgian: კაპელანი (ḳaṗelani) — member of a religious body
  • German: Kaplan — member of a religious body
  • German: Kaplanin — member of a religious body
  • German: Seelsorger — member of a religious body
  • German: Seelsorgerin — member of a religious body
  • German: Gefängnisseelsorger — member of a religious body
  • German: Gefängnisseelsorgerin — member of a religious body
  • German: Krankenhausseelsorger — member of a religious body
  • German: Krankenhausseelsorgerin — member of a religious body
  • Greek: καπελάνος (kapelános) — member of a religious body
  • Hungarian: káplán — member of a religious body
  • Icelandic: kapellán — member of a religious body
  • Indonesian: kapelan — member of a religious body
  • Irish: séiplíneach — member of a religious body
  • Italian: cappellano — member of a religious body
  • Japanese: チャプレン (chapuren) — member of a religious body
  • Japanese: チャップレン (chappuren) — member of a religious body
  • Japanese: 軍僧 (gunsō) — member of a religious body
  • Japanese: 牧師 (bokushi) — member of a religious body
  • Kazakh: капеллан (kapellan) — member of a religious body
  • Korean: 담당사제 (damdangsaje) — member of a religious body
  • Korean: 사제 (saje) — member of a religious body
  • Korean: 목사 (moksa) — member of a religious body
  • Kyrgyz: капеллан (kapellan) — member of a religious body
  • Latin: capellanus — member of a religious body
  • Latvian: kapelāns — member of a religious body
  • Lithuanian: kapelionas — member of a religious body
  • Macedonian: капела́н (kapelán) — member of a religious body
  • Maltese: kappillan — member of a religious body
  • Māori: tiaparani — member of a religious body
  • Middle English: chapeleyn — member of a religious body
  • Norman: aumônyi — member of a religious body
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kapellan — member of a religious body
  • Norwegian Bokmål: feltprest — member of a religious body
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kapellan — member of a religious body
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: feltprest — member of a religious body
  • Old English: handprēost — member of a religious body
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: capelan — member of a religious body
  • Iranian Persian: کَشیش (kašiš) — member of a religious body
  • Iranian Persian: قِسّیس (ġessis) — member of a religious body
  • Polish: kapelan — member of a religious body
  • Portuguese: capelão — member of a religious body
  • Romanian: capelan — member of a religious body
  • Russian: капелла́н (kapellán) — member of a religious body
  • Serbo-Croatian: капѐла̄н — member of a religious body
  • Serbo-Croatian: kapèlān — member of a religious body
  • Slovak: kaplán — member of a religious body
  • Slovene: kaplan — member of a religious body
  • Spanish: capellán — member of a religious body
  • Swedish: kaplan — member of a religious body
  • Tagalog: kapelyan — member of a religious body
  • Tajik: капеллан (kapellan) — member of a religious body
  • Ukrainian: капела́н (kapelán) — member of a religious body
  • Ukrainian: капеля́н (kapelján) — member of a religious body
  • Uzbek: kapellan — member of a religious body
  • Vietnamese: tuyên úy — member of a religious body
Real reading context

chaplain in complete knowledge articles