Kirk

Kirk can mean several things:

As a common noun, kirk is the Scots and Scottish English word for 'Church', attested as a noun from the 14th century onwards, but as an element in placenames much earlier. Both words, kirk and church, derive from the Koine Greek κυριακον (δωμα) 'Lord's (house)', which was borrowed into the Germanic languages in late antiquity, possibly in the course of the Gothic missions. Whereas church displays Old English palatalisation, kirk is likely to be a Loanword from Old Norse and thus has the original mainland Germanic consonants. Compare cognates: Icelandic & Faroese kirkja; Swedish kyrka; Norwegian & Danish kirke; German Kirche; Dutch kerk.

As a proper noun, The Kirk is an informal name for the Church of Scotland, the country's national church. The Kirk of Scotland was in official use as the name of the Church of Scotland until the 17th century, and still today the term is frequently used in the press and everyday speech, though seldom in the Church's own anglicised literature. Even more commonly, The Free Kirk is heard as an informal name for the Free Church of Scotland.

Kirk is found as an element in many place names in Scotland and northern England, and in countries with large Scottish Expatriate communities, for example:

also Dunkirk, France, though this is an Anglicisation of an original Dutch form, Duinkerke.