Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The singing of hymns.
  • noun The composing or writing of hymns.
  • noun The hymns of a particular period or church.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act or art of singing hymns or sacred songs; psalmody.
  • noun Hymns collectively; the body of hymns belonging to a particular period, country, sect, or author.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Hymns, considered collectively; hymnology.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The writing, composing, or singing of hymns or psalms.
  • noun countable The hymns of a particular church or of a particular time.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the act of singing psalms or hymns

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Medieval Latin hymnōdia, from Greek humnōidiā : humnos, hymn + ōidē, song; see wed- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French hymnodie, from Latin hymnodia, from Ancient Greek ὑμνῳδία (humnōidia), from ὑμνῳδέω (humnōideō, "I sing a hymn"), from ὕμνος (humnos, "song of praise") + ἀείδω (aeidō, "I sing").

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Examples

  • However good its tune, the real problem about I Vow to Thee My Country, like all aggressive and male-oriented hymnody, is that, in an age which has effectively relegated the second verses heavenly ways of gentleness and peaceful paths to a fairly painless insurance policy, an emasculated dreamlike world is wheeled out to sanctify whatever current war effort.

    Archive 2004-08-15 Laban 2004

  • The work of this group of translators which has secured so firm a place in English hymnody for a number of German hymns and more particularly those of Paul Gerhardt will be discussed in the following chapter.

    Paul Gerhardt as a Hymn Writer and his Influence on English Hymnody 1976

  • Germany for so long has been an incentive to the development of English hymnody, the interest in German hymnody has at the same time been quickened by the good work done in [98] Frances E. Cox's Sacred Hymns from the German (1841) and [99] Henry J. Buckoll's Hymns translated from the German (1842).

    Paul Gerhardt as a Hymn Writer and his Influence on English Hymnody 1976

  • His success inspired St. Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 397) composed Latin hymns although the productions of his forerunner in Latin hymnody,

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7: Gregory XII-Infallability 1840-1916 1913

  • Of these 132 poems a large proportion have become embodied in church music of Germany and many of them may be counted among the most beautiful in German hymnody.

    Paul Gerhardt as a Hymn Writer and his Influence on English Hymnody 1976

  • The decisive verdict of the Krumbacher on Greek hymnody, which is of great importance for the right valuation of Christian hymnody, is as follows: "None could reach the heart of the people with tones that found no echo in their living speech.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7: Gregory XII-Infallability 1840-1916 1913

  • Weinberg's use of hymnody and song, whether to express love or sorrow or more usually both, shows him at his most affecting, though not necessarily at his most original.

    The Passenger; Don Giovanni; Faust – review 2011

  • Far from having newly permitted vernacular hymnody to replace the propers, the consilium claimed that the old permission for vernacular hymns to replace propers was no longer operative.

    The Proper Place of Propers 2009

  • Vernacular hymnody in place of propers cheats people because it means that the Mass itself is not being sung.

    The Proper Place of Propers 2009

  • He is speaking here of hymnody used in Vespers and Benediction and other occasions, and not so much and often at Mass itself.

    Eliminating Bad Music 2009

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