What does "breviary" mean?

A book containing prayers, hymns, and so on for everyday use at the canonical hours.

What is a synonym for "breviary"?

Common synonyms include: abridgment, abstract, angelus, appeal, ave maria, beads.

Pronounced //ˈbɹɛv.i.ɛɹ.i//.

//ˈbɹɛv.i.ɛɹ.i// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A book containing prayers, hymns, and so on for everyday use at the canonical hours.
"Sister took out her breviary and said her evening office."
2
(Roman Catholic Church) a book of prayers to be recited daily by certain priests and members of religious orders wordnet
3
A brief statement or summary. obsolete

"Sister took out her breviary and said her evening office."

From Latin breviārium (“summary”) (compare abbreviation), ultimately from brevis (“short”). Doublet of brevier and brimborion.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.