tabernacle

Meanings

Noun

• Any temporary dwelling; a hut, tent, or booth.
• The portable tent used before the construction of the temple, where the shekinah (presence of God) was believed to dwell.
• The Jewish Temple at Jerusalem (as continuing the functions of the earlier tabernacle).
• Any portable shrine used in heathen or idolatrous worship.
• A sukkah, the booth or 'tabernacle' used during the Jewish Feast of Sukkot.
• A small ornamented cupboard or box used for the reserved sacrament of the Eucharist, normally located in an especially prominent place in a Roman Catholic church.
• A temporary place of worship, especially a tent, for a tent meeting, as with a venue for revival meetings.
• Any house of worship, especially a Mormon church.
• Any abode or dwelling place, or especially the human body as the temporary dwelling place of the soul, or life.
• A hinged device allowing for the easy folding of a mast 90 degrees from perpendicular, as for transporting the boat on a trailer, or passing under a bridge.

Verb

• To dwell; to abide for a time.

Origin

• From Middle English tabernacle (14th century), from Old French tabernacle, from Latin tabernāculum ("tent, booth, shed"), the diminutive of taberna.