Kirk

Kirk can mean several things:

• As a common noun, kirk is the Scots and Scottish English word for 'church', attested from the 14th century onwards. 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 offical 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 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 countries with large Scottish expatriate communities, for example:

• Falkirk
• Halkirk, Caithness, Highland
• Kirkcaldy, Fife
• Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway
• Kirkliston, Edinburgh
• Kirkton of Skene, Aberdeenshire
• Kirk, Highland
• Kirkwall, Orkney
• Kirkpatrick, Oregon, United States
• Newkirk, Oklahoma, United States

• Kirk is in common use as a surname:

• Andy Kirk, a jazz musician.
• Jennifer Kirk, a figure skater
• Norman Kirk, a Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• Russell Kirk, the "father of modern conservatism".
• Rahsaan Roland Kirk, a jazz musician.
• James T. Kirk, a fictional starship captain in Star Trek.

• Kirk is also occasionally found as a forename:

• Kirk Douglas, actor.
• Kirk Cameron, actor; hence the name of Cameron's 1995 TV Series: Kirk