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Glite Dictionary
amen corner

amen corner

1 9.9
A place in a church where people sit and loudly say amen during a service
  • noun
  • /ˈeɪmən ˈkɔrnər/
translation icon : rinconcito de amén
  • The group in the amen corner was particularly vocal, responding with joy to every point made by the preacher.

Examples

  • Deacon Johnson was the Amen corner of Ebenezer Baptist Church.

  • Amen corner, he said.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • During the church service, the pastor encouraged everyone in the amen corner to express their enthusiasm with loud amens.

  • As the choir sang, the elderly congregation members in the amen corner led the enthusiastic responses throughout the service.

Surface Forms

amen corner singular
amen corners plural

Morphology

amen + corner

The constituents 'amen' (a prayer/response marker) and 'corner' (a place) transparently suggest a location associated with saying 'amen', so a learner who knows both words could plausibly guess it refers to a place where amens are given. However, the precise social meaning—an area reserved for a group who lead or are especially vocal in responsive amens—is culturally specific and conventionalized within church practice, so full comprehension requires pragmatic/cultural knowledge rather than pure compositionality.

Etymology

Amen corner comes from churches where a small corner or group of seats was full of people who called out 'amens' loudly during the service. So amen corner now means the place or the people in a church known for their loud, lively 'amens'.