Irmos

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The initial troparion of an ode of a canon.

    "Each ode has its own meter and tune called an irmos (εἱρμός; plural irmoi), introduced in the first stanza and repeated. The second, third, and sixth odes are divided into two sections, with different irmoi, perhaps allowing Andrew a greater variety of chant melodies to break up what might otherwise become monotonous."

Example

More examples

"Each ode has its own meter and tune called an irmos (εἱρμός; plural irmoi), introduced in the first stanza and repeated. The second, third, and sixth odes are divided into two sections, with different irmoi, perhaps allowing Andrew a greater variety of chant melodies to break up what might otherwise become monotonous."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek εἱρμός (heirmós).

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