*
G
a chapel or porch at the west end of some medieval churches where penitents
waited before admission to the body of the church and where clergy received
women who had business with them. [BD]
OED: A porch or chapel at the entrance of a
church. According to some authorities, the L. word was also applied to the
western extremity of the nave, as being a part regarded as less sacred than the
rest.
