hymn
noun
- type of song specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L331958 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /hɪm/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English ymne, from Old English ymen (reinforced by Old French ymne), from Latin hymnus, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὕμνος (húmnos).
- A song of praise or worship, especially a religious one.
“But when the moon rose and the breeze awakened, and the sedges stirred, and the cat’s-paws raced across the moonlit ponds, and the far surf off Wonder Head intoned the hymn of the four winds, the trinity, earth and sky and water, became one thunderous symphony—a harmony of sound and colour silvered to a monochrome by the moon.”
“An interesting feature of the church is the invisible clock, which you can hear thumping away as you enter. Constructed in 1525, it is one of the oldest timepieces in England. It chimes the hours and the quarters, and every three hours it plays a hymn. But it has no faces.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English ymne, from Old English ymen (reinforced by Old French ymne), from Latin hymnus, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὕμνος (húmnos).
- To sing a hymn.
“An unknown cast, including Diane Keaton, hymned the Age of Aquarius, stripped off at the end of the first act and let the sunshine in at the end of the second.”
- To praise or extol in hymns.
“To hymn the birth-night of the Lord.”
“Their praise is hymned by loftier harps than mine.”