altar cloth

a cloth covering for an altar.

Origin of altar cloth

Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200

Kirstie had begun her ties, and Jean the altar-cloth, again.

Red Hair |Elinor Glyn
The priest kissed the altar-cloth, clasped his hands, and multiplied signs of the cross over host and chalice.

Abbe Mouret's Transgression |Emile Zola
The kneeling piece, which projects from under the folds of the altar-cloth, is of dark wood highly polished.

The Saxons |Edwin Davies Schoonmaker
Towel, tow′el, n. a cloth for wiping the skin after it is washed, and for other purposes: an altar-cloth.

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) |Various

The altar-cloth one, Jean, is my age, the other three are older.

Red Hair |Elinor Glyn

altar cloth

Christianity the cloth used for covering an altar: often applied also to the frontal