A raised table or structure in a church or religious place where religious ceremonies or sacrifices take place.
From Latin 'altare,' possibly related to 'altus' (high) or derived from 'adolere' (to burn offerings). The word arrived in English through Old French during the medieval period and became central to Christian worship terminology.
Almost every culture in human history independently invented altars—they seem to be a universal human need to have a special sacred place for communication with the divine, suggesting something deep about how our brains need to ritualize spirituality!
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