megachurch

The word 'megachurch' is a modern English compound formed in the late 20th century. The first element, 'mega-', is borrowed directly from the Greek adjective megas, meaning "great" or "large," which has been a productive prefix in scientific and colloquial English to indicate immense scale. The second element, 'church', has a complex journey from the Greek kyriakon ("belonging to the Lord") through Germanic languages into Old English. The compound logically and literally describes a "large church," but its specific contemporary meaning is a sociological and religious term for an extremely large, often suburban, congregation that functions like a multifaceted organization, reflecting the literal building blocks of "great size" applied to the concept of a Christian worship community.

Structure: mega (large) + church (church) - mega: From Greek megas (great, large). A combining form used in English to denote something of great size or scale. - church: From Old English cirice, circe, via West Germanic from Late Greek kyriakon (dōma) meaning "the Lord's (house)". It denotes a building for public Christian worship or the collective body of Christians.