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DictionaryroodCrucifix
noun

rood

ROOD/rˈud/

A crucifix, especially one displayed in a church.

A wooden rood hangs above the altar in the church.

A wooden crucifix mounted prominently above a carved church screen, shown in a tight architectural vignette that makes the crucifix and its placement immediately clear.
Etymology
roodOld Englishcross; pole

Old English rod already meant a cross, especially Christ’s cross, as well as a pole. The church crucifix sense continues that established religious meaning; the word’s deeper origin is uncertain.

In context

Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art1:23
a rood screen in pre-reformation Britain, and in medieval understanding, was a screen on which the corpus the body of Christ would be stretched out on the cross
Theology and Threshold: The Hereford Screen at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London

More examples

  • The carved rood shows Christ with his head bowed.
  • Workers carefully restored the chapel's damaged rood.
  • The museum displays medieval roods from several churches.

Forms

rood · roods

Similar words

crucifix
The usual term, not limited to crosses displayed in churches.
cross
May lack the figure of Christ that a rood bears.