Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Chapel \Chap"el\, n. [OF. chapele, F. chapelle, fr. LL. capella,
   orig., a short cloak, hood, or cowl; later, a reliquary,
   sacred vessel, chapel; dim. of cappa, capa, cloak, cape,
   cope; also, a covering for the head. The chapel where St.
   Martin's cloak was preserved as a precious relic, itself came
   to be called capella, whence the name was applied to similar
   paces of worship, and the guardian of this cloak was called
   capellanus, or chaplain. See {Cap}, and cf. {Chaplain}.,
   {Chaplet}.]
   1. A subordinate place of worship; as,
      (a) a small church, often a private foundation, as for a
          memorial;
      (b) a small building attached to a church;
      (c) a room or recess in a church, containing an altar.

   Note: In Catholic churches, and also in cathedrals and abbey
         churches, chapels are usually annexed in the recesses
         on the sides of the aisles. --Gwilt.

   2. A place of worship not connected with a church; as, the
      chapel of a palace, hospital, or prison.

   3. In England, a place of worship used by dissenters from the
      Established Church; a meetinghouse.

   4. A choir of singers, or an orchestra, attached to the court
      of a prince or nobleman.

   5. (Print.)
      (a) A printing office, said to be so called because
          printing was first carried on in England in a chapel
          near Westminster Abbey.
      (b) An association of workmen in a printing office.

   {Chapel of ease}.
      (a) A chapel or dependent church built for the ease or a
          accommodation of an increasing parish, or for
          parishioners who live at a distance from the principal
          church.
      (b) A privy. (Law)

   {Chapel master}, a director of music in a chapel; the
      director of a court or orchestra.

   {To build a chapel} (Naut.), to chapel a ship. See {Chapel},
      v. t., 2.

   {To hold a chapel}, to have a meeting of the men employed in
      a printing office, for the purpose of considering
      questions affecting their interests.