English

altar poem

altar + poem

A compound of altar + poem

Latin altāre ‘altar, fitting for burnt offerings’

Middle English auter

English altar

Proto-Hellenic *kʷoiwéyō ‘to make’

Ancient Greek ποιέω ‘to make’

Ancient Greek ποίημα ‘a poem’

Latin poēma

Middle French poème

English poem

Today it means

noun a visual poem in the shape of an altar or a cross

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / altar poem