Kirk

Both words, kirk and church, derive from the Koine Greek κυριακόν (δωμα) (kyriakon (dōma)) meaning 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 a loanword from Old Norse[citation needed] and thus retains the original mainland Germanic consonants.

Compare cognates: Icelandic & Faroese kirkja; Swedish kyrka (where the first ‘k’ was later palatalized as well); Norwegian (Nynorsk) kyrkje; Danish and Norwegian (Bokmål) kirke; Dutch and Afrikaans kerk; German Kirche (reflecting palatalization before unstressed front vowel); West Frisian tsjerke; and borrowed into non-Germanic languages Estonian kirik and Finnish kirkko.

The first court of Presbyterian polity where the Elders of a particular congregation gather as a Session or meeting to govern the spiritual and temporal affairs of the church.

[7] Historically a newly married couple would attend public worship as husband and wife for the first time at their kirking.

In Nova Scotia, Kirking of the Tartan ceremonies have become an integral part of most Scottish Festivals and Highland Games.

The reason appears to be that kirk was borrowed into local Galwegian, it does not seem to have been a part of spoken Gaelic in the Highlands or Ireland.

Kirkland, a city in the United States, is an exception, being named after the surname of an English settler, Peter Kirk.