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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Chāp'lain, n.

noun

(-lin, 42), n. [Fr. chapelain, O. Fr. & Pr. capelan, Sp. capellan, It. capellano, L. Lat. capellanus, from capella. See CHAPEL.]

  1. An ecclesiastic who has a chapel, or who performs service in a chapel.
  2. A clergyman who is officially attached to a ship of war, to an army, to some public institution, or to a family, for the purpose of performing divine service.