教会（きょうかい、kyoukai）
- church

The Japanese word 教会 教会 primarily translates to "church" in English. It refers to a building used for Christian religious services and activities. It can also refer to the religious community or organization itself.

⚫︎教会で結婚式を挙げました。 Translation: I had my wedding ceremony at the church. ⚫︎その教会は美しいステンドグラスで有名です。 Translation: That church is famous for its beautiful stained glass. ⚫︎毎週日曜日に教会に行きます。 Translation: I go to church every Sunday.

This word is used to refer to a physical place of worship, a gathering of Christians, or the Christian religion itself. You can use it when talking about visiting a 教会, attending a service, or discussing matters related to the Christian faith. The context will generally make the meaning clear.

The word is typically written as 教会 in kanji. The reading is きょうかい in hiragana. There are no other common ways to write this word, and the okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is standard.

There aren't many direct synonyms in Japanese. The closest would be words that describe other religious institutions, like 寺 (tera, temple) for a Buddhist temple or 神社 (jinja, shrine) for a Shinto shrine.

There aren't direct antonyms, as it's a specific type of building. You could consider secular places or other religious buildings as indirect opposites, depending on the context.

私の家族は、小さな《教会に通っています。》 ・Translation: My family attends a small church. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the speaker's family's religious affiliation and their regular attendance at a 教会.

クリスマスの夜は、たくさんの人が《教会に集まります。》 ・Translation: On Christmas Eve, many people gather at the church. ・Explanation: This sentence illustrates a common event where people gather in the 教会 for a special religious observance.

The word 教会 is a compound word. The first character, 教(kyou), means "teaching" or "religion," and the second character, 会(kai), means "meeting," "association," or "assembly." Thus, 教会 literally means "teaching association" or "religious gathering," reflecting the function of the building and the community it houses.