A ciborium (plural ciboria; Medieval Latin ciborium (drinking cup), from the Ancient Greek κιβώριον kibōrion, a type of drinking-cup) is a vessel, normally in metal. It was originally a particular shape of drinking cup in Ancient Greece and Rome, but the word later came to refer to a large covered cup designed to hold hosts for, and after, the Eucharist, thus the counterpart (for the bread) of the chalice (for the wine).
The word is also used for a large canopy over the altar of a church, which was a common feature of Early Medieval church architecture, now relatively rare.
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