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Glite Dictionary
antiphonary

antiphonary

9.9
A book of short church chants used during services
  • noun
  • /ˌæn.tɪˈfoʊ.nə.ri/
  • Specialized
translation icon : antifonario
  • During the liturgy, the priest referred to the antiphonary for the day's special prayers.

Examples

  • The choir sang beautifully from the antiphonary during the evening service.

  • The most ancient sacramentaries and antiphonaries of the several Churches attest, by the prayers, the lessons, and the whole liturgy of these two weeks, that the Passion of our Lord is now the one sole thought of the Christian world.

    Blog text (34)

  • In many churches, the antiphonary is used to provide the responses sung by the congregation.

Synonyms

antiphonal
vsantiphonary
  • Specialized
9.9

A church book with short songs or responses used in singing

is used in liturgical services with a broader ritual focus

Surface Forms

antiphonary singular
antiphonaries plural

Morphology

antiphonary = antiphon (transparent) = antiphon + ary

Formed by the noun 'antiphon' plus the noun-forming suffix '-ary', giving a book or collection of antiphons; the meaning follows directly from the components though both terms are specialized.

Etymology

Antiphonary comes from Greek parts anti- meaning 'in reply' and phon- meaning 'sound' or 'voice', the same root as in phone. So an antiphonary is a book of 'reply-songs' used in church services, where parts of the choir sing back and forth.