Definition of "hagioscope" []

• A small opening in an interior wall of a church, enabling those in the transept to view the main altar. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In the west wall is a hagioscope, and from a room next the chapel a newel staircase led to the priest's room on the floor above."
• "From the south transept a hagioscope slants through the wall to the chancel; and in one of the windows of the north aisle is a bit of very old, though not very beautiful, stained glass."
• "The hagioscope in the chancel appears as a window in the outer wall."