The New International Encyclopædia/Dominicale

​DOMINICALE, dō̇-mĭn′ĭ-kālē̇ (ML., from dominicus, relating to the Lord, from dominus, lord). A rare term, probably denoting a white linen cloth in which, at communion, during the early ages of the Western Church, women received the sacred host (‘the body of the Lord,’ hence the derivation), which as late as the eighth or ninth century was placed in the hand of the communicant, not in the mouth as in modern Roman Catholic usage. Ducange and others, however, apply the word to a veil worn by women in church.

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