chantry. Establishment, endowment, or foundation for the daily or frequent saying of Masses on behalf of the souls of the founder, founders, or other persons intended. A chantry-chapel was therefore a chapel or separate part of a church established for this purpose, often enclosed by a screen (with or without a canopy), and frequently erected over the burial-place of the founder, so not unusually incorporated, apart from the altar, a tomb-chest and effigy, as in the excellent medieval examples in Winchester Cathedral.

chantry endowment for a priest to pray for the departed XIV; chapel, etc., so endowed XV. — OF. chanterie, f. chanter sing, CHANT; see -ERY, -RY.

Chantry. Provision (Christian) made for the saying (or singing) of mass for the souls of the dead, especially for the one making the endowment, but also for family and friends. The term thus applies to the endowment and the office, and also on occasion (if the bequest was large enough) to the chapel in which the masses were said.

chantry a chapel, altar, or other part of a church endowed for a priest or priests to celebrate masses for the founder's soul; a chapel, altar, or other part of a church endowed for such a purpose. The word is recorded from late Middle English, and comes from Old French chanterie, from chanter ‘to sing’.

Chantry

a body of priests who say masses for the dead in a chantry chapel.

Example: chantry of priests, 1775.