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Glite Dictionary
matins

matins

1 9.9
A morning church service of prayers and short readings
  • noun
  • /ˈmætɪnz/
  • Formal
translation icon : matutinas
  • I wait for the bell to ring for Matins every Sunday morning.
  • ring for Matins
  • Matins bell

They sort of stagger into matins as one the first hours are called, or lauds the pre sunrise hour.

Examples

  • I have not been an Anglican in any way, shape, or form for well over 30 years, but on the occasions when I hear Choral Matins or Evensong (the former sometimes on the radio, the latter when I have been on holiday and slipped into a country church), I have often been profoundly moved.

    Blog text (20)

  • Teresa decided to use the propane burner rather than heat up the woodstove; too much effort, too much heat when it would be 90 degrees by eleven, even if it was cold at five. So she had time to take a cup of coffee and some slices of bread across the meadow to Beatrice before Matins.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • We missed you at Matins.

    We're No Angels (1989)

  • At Matins, if no priest was present, they sang the Gospel.

    Blog text (23)

  • I will be participating in the Bible study as well as being the preacher for the Matins sermonette.

    Blog text (10)

  • The Matins bell rang.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • We could hear Matins chanted as we drove into the square, stopping before the marble base that had once supported some Roman emperor's statue.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I must admit, however, that I did a lot of sleeping during the repetitive droning of the many psalms and prayers of Matins.

    Academic text (2008)

  • It is wonderful to see KFUO broadcasting Matins services with preachers from across the Synod.

    Blog text (10)

  • At Matins, the congregation gathered to sing hymns and pray at dawn.

Synonyms

morning prayer
vsmatins
  • Specialized
4 5.0

A short prayer service at dawn in a church

is the traditional liturgical name used in formal services

Surface Forms

matins singular
matins plural

Morphology

matins = matin (opaque) = matin + s

Although historically formed from 'matin' + a plural '-s', 'matins' is a fossilized liturgical term meaning a particular morning prayer and is not transparently derived by learners from 'matin' + plural.

Etymology

Matins comes from the old Latin matutinus, which means 'of the morning', and from Old French matin meaning 'morning'. So matins were originally the prayers said at daybreak, which is why the word now means the early morning church service, and the same root is in the English word matinee.