What is "altarage"

Altarage \Al"tar*age\, n. [Cf. OF. auterage, autelage.]

1. The offerings made upon the altar, or to a church.

2. The profit which accrues to the priest, by reason of the altar, from the small tithes.
   --Shipley.

n. 1 The offerings made upon the altar or to a church. 2 The profit which accrues to the priest, by reason of the altar, from the small tithes.

Altarage is a term once commonly used in the Roman Catholic Church. From the low Latin altaragium — which signified the revenue reserved for the chaplain (altarist or altar-thane) in contradistinction to the income of the parish priest — it came to signify the fees received by a priest from the laity when discharging any function for them, e.g., at marriages, baptisms, and funerals. It is also known as an honorarium, stipend, or stole-fee. It may also refer to the offering made upon an altar or the endowments for Masses for the deceased.