View source for Altar - alter

'''Altar''' and '''alter''' {{Bridges}}

Both '''altar''' and '''alter''' are pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, with the first vowel of like that of AWE and 'or', and the second vowel the indeterminate [[shwa]]: AWL-te<sup>r</sup>, {{IPA|ˈɒl tə<sup>r</sup>}}
*'''Alt<u>a</u>r''' is a [[noun]], the name of an object used in religious contexts, and in some figurative meanings.  An '''alt<u>a</u>r''' is a slab or table or carved stone rock on which sacrifices are made.  [[Abraham]], in a story familiar to Muslims, Jews and Christians, wished to sacrifice his son on the '''alt<u>a</u>r'''.
**In modern Christian practice, the 'sacrifice' offered at the '''alt<u>a</u>r''' is the symbolic sacrifice of bread and wine in some churches.  In some reformed churches, the central object in the church is called 'the Lord's Table', and '''alt<u>a</u>r''' is regarded as an unnecessarily superstitious name for the object in question.
*To '''alt<u>e</u>r''' is a [[verb]].  Its basic meaning is the same as that of 'to change'.
**You may also see the [[Latin]] phrase '''''alt<u>e</u>r''' ego'', which means 'other self', a second personality hidden behind the obvious one; or, sometimes, another person who seems very close to the person whose '''''alt<u>e</u>r''' ego'' he is.

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[[Category:Religion]] 
[[Category:Culture]] 
[[Category:Latin]] 
[[Category:Foreign words]]
[[Category:typos]]
[[Category:Latin words and phrases‏‎]]