What does ciborium mean?
A ciborium is a covered, cup-shaped vessel used in Christian worship — most familiarly in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions — to hold consecrated Eucharistic hosts. Typically made of precious metal such as silver or gold, it resembles a chalice but is wider and topped with a hinged lid, often surmounted by a cross. The word also names an older architectural feature: a permanent canopy supported by columns and raised above an altar, a form surviving most famously in Bernini's bronze canopy at St Peter's Basilica. The term derives via Latin from the Greek kibōrion, meaning a drinking cup or the seed-pod of the Egyptian water-lily, whose cup-like shape suggested the name. Because it belongs to the specialized vocabulary of liturgy and church art, ciborium appears mainly in religious, historical, and museological writing rather than everyday speech. For readers of art history or visitors to cathedrals, however, it names an object both beautiful and central to ritual practice.
A covered, cup-shaped vessel, usually of precious metal, used in Christian liturgy to hold consecrated Eucharistic hosts.
"After the communion rite, the remaining hosts were secured in the ciborium within the tabernacle."
The standard plural is 'ciboria', following the Latin second-declension pattern.
A permanent canopy standing over an altar and supported on columns; a structure of this kind, especially in early Christian and Byzantine churches.
"The sixth-century basilica retains its marble ciborium above the high altar."
The plural follows the Latin second declension: one ciborium, two ciboria. It is pronounced /sɪˈbɔːriə/ and is standard in liturgical and academic writing.
"Two gilded ciboria were carried in procession at the start of the Mass."
Its name comes from the Greek for the seed-pod of the Egyptian water-lily — which ancient writers said looked so much like a drinking cup that the shape gave the sacred vessel its name.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of ciborium
The word ciborium comes into English in the early modern period from post-classical Latin, where it denoted both a liturgical vessel and an altar canopy. The Latin term derives from the Greek kibōrion, which referred to a drinking cup and, originally, to the seed-pod of the Egyptian water-lily — a pod whose cup-like shape evidently inspired the metaphor. The sense of a canopy over an altar arose because such canopies were likened to a great suspended cup covering the altar.
How ciborium is actually used
Formal, technical register — encountered almost exclusively in discussions of Christian liturgy, church architecture, ecclesiastical art history, and museum catalogues. In Catholic practice, only clergy and instituted ministers typically handle the ciborium, and vessels must be consecrated before liturgical use.
Easily confused with ciborium
A monstrance is an open display vessel used to exhibit the consecrated host for adoration, whereas a ciborium is a lidded container used to store and carry the hosts.