Cerkiew and kościół

The Polish word "cerkiew" [ˈt͡sɛrkʲɛf] has the same Greek origin as the English word: κυριακός (kyriakós) means "owing to the Lord".

In Polish language this term is reserved for church buildings used for Eastern Rite (Greek-Catholic or Eastern Orthodox). Roman Catholic churches are called kościół [ˈkɔɕt͡ɕuw] , protestant ones "zbór" [zbur] . The word "kościół" originated from Czech "kostel" and indirectly from Latin "castellum" 'castle, fortress'.

Several other Slavic languages have two words for "church", too.

In Ukrainian the words "церква" (trnl.: tserkva) and "костел (kostel)" are used in a very similar way as in Polish, and so are "царква" (tsarkva) and "касьцёл" (kaścioł) in Belarusian. The difference is, that in Polish the term "kościół" is the term more general, whereas in Ukrainian and Belarussian the terms with Byzantine specification, "tserkva" and "tsarkva", are the more general ones.

In Czech the discrimination is different: "církev" (tseerkev) is the church as institution, whereas "kostel" is the housing of the worships – of any Christian confession. So is the Slovakian use of "cirkev" (tsirkev, with short "i" like in "sink") and "kostol".

In Poland churches of Eastern Rite typically are small and wooden.

See also

* Eastern Orthodox church architecture