Crypt (redirected from tonsillar crypts)

crypt (krĭpt) [Gr.,=hidden], vault or chamber beneath the main level of a church, used as a meeting place or burial place. It undoubtedly developed from the catacombs used by early Christians as places of worship. Early churches were commonly built over the tombs of martyrs. Such vaults, located beneath the main altar, developed into the extensive crypts of the Middle Ages that in many churches of the 11th and 12th cent. occupied the entire space beneath the sanctuary. At Canterbury the 12th-century crypt forms a large and complete lower church in itself. The crypt of the Rochester Cathedral is partly above ground. The cathedrals at Chartres and at Bourges have crypts typical of the Gothic development.

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crypt

Crypt, Canterbury Cathedral (12th century), England.

(credit: A.F. Kersting)

Subterranean chamber, usually under a church floor. The catacombs of the early Christians were known as cryptae, and when churches came to be built over the tombs of saints and martyrs, subterranean chapels were built around the actual tomb. As early as the reign of Constantine I (AD 306–37), the crypt was considered a normal part of a church. Later its size was increased to include the entire space beneath the choir or chancel; the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral is an elaborate underground church with its own apse. Many secular medieval European buildings also had richly decorated crypts.

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crypt

1. a cellar, vault, or underground chamber, esp beneath a church, where it is often used as a chapel, burial place, etc.

2. Anatomy any pitlike recess or depression

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crypt [kript]

(anatomy)

A follicle or pitlike depression.

A simple glandular cavity.

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crypt

crypt

1. A story in a church below or partly below ground level and under the main floor, particularly of the chancel, often containing chapels and sometimes tombs.

2. A hidden subterranean chamber or complex of chambers and passages.

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crypt - Unix command to perform encryption and decryption.

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Crypt 

(1) In ancient Rome, any vaulted area of a building, wholly or partly underground.

(2) In Western European medieval architecture, a chapel under a church (usually under the altar) used as a burial place of honor. Crypts were widespread in early medieval architecture.

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Crypt 

the interior chamber of a tomb, usually partly underground, intended for the interment of the deceased.