Hymnody
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The writing, composing, or singing of hymns or psalms. uncountable
"Primeval Worſhip, Lord, retrieve, / For whoſe Decays the Faithful grieve, / For as thy Temple-Off'rings fall or riſe, / Hymnody chills or fires, Religion lives or dies."
- 2 the act of singing psalms or hymns wordnet
- 3 The hymns of a particular church or of a particular time. countable
"Therefore do we recite this Seraphick Theology delivered to us, that in that cæleſtial Hymnody we may communicate with the Heavenly Hoſt …"
Example
More examples"Primeval Worſhip, Lord, retrieve, / For whoſe Decays the Faithful grieve, / For as thy Temple-Off'rings fall or riſe, / Hymnody chills or fires, Religion lives or dies."
Etymology
From Old French hymnodie, from Latin hymnodia, from Ancient Greek ὑμνῳδία (humnōidía), from ὑμνῳδέω (humnōidéō, “I sing a hymn”), from ὕμνος (húmnos, “song of praise”) + ἀείδω (aeídō, “I sing”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.