hymn
pronunciation
How to pronounce hymn in British English:
UK [hɪm]
How to pronounce hymn in American English:
US [hɪm]
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- Noun:
- a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)
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- Verb:
- sing a hymn
- praise by singing a hymn
Word Origin
- hymn
- hymn: [13] For the ancient Greeks, a húmnos was a ‘song of praise’ – but not necessarily a religious one. It could be used to celebrate the deeds of heroes as well as to compliment the gods. However, the Greek Septuagint uses it to render various Hebrew words meaning ‘song praising God’, and it was this meaning that was carried via Latin hymnus and Old French ymne into English as imne (the spelling hymn is a 16thcentury latinization).
- hymn (n.)
- c. 1000, from Old French ymne and Old English ymen, both from Latin hymnus "song of praise," from Greek hymnos "song or ode in praise of gods or heroes," used in Septuagint for various Hebrew words meaning "song praising God." Possibly a variant of hymenaios "wedding song," from Hymen, Greek god of marriage (see hymen), or from a PIE root *sam- "to sing" (cognates: Hittite išhamai "he sings," Sanskrit saman- "hymn, song") [Watkins]. Evidence for the silent -n- dates from at least 1530.
Example
- 1. One of the gospels says they sang a hymn and they went out .
- 2. At the end of a passover meal , they sang a hymn .
- 3. Our triumph in space hymn to the soviet union !
- 4. In new york , despite the activity in the courts , religious instruction , hymn singing and prayers all go on when schools are not in session .
- 5. Her best-remembered hymn : " god , who touchest earth with beauty . "