hymnody

hym•no•dy (HIM-nuh-dee)  n

Definition:
1. the singing or the composition of hymns or sacred songs
2. hymns collectively, especially the collective hymns of a specific religion, place, or period
3. a study of hymns and their composers
4. the preparation of expository material and bibliographies concerning hymns

Origin:
1711; from Medieval Latin hymnodia,  from Greek hymnoidía  "chanting of a hymn", equivalent to hýmn  "hymn" + oidía  "singing" ( aoid-  "sing" + -ia)

Related:
Related Words: hymn, ode

Sentence Examples:
• This volume is presented because the author believes that the hymnody of the West must find much of its finest enrichment in the praise literature of the Church of the East.  -Hymns from the Greek Office Books, John Brownlie

• From the many English synonyms for song I have selected the word chant to translate qaçàl. In its usual signification hymnody may be its more exact equivalent, but it is a less convenient term than chant. -The Mountain Chant, Washington Matthews

• There is something very strange and surprising in this state of things, this contrast between the primitive Church with its few simple melodies that ravished the educated hearer, and our own full-blown institution with its hymn-book of some 600 tunes, which when it is opened fills the sensitive worshipper with dismay, so that there are persons who would rather not go inside a church than subject themselves to the trial. What is the matter? What is it that is wrong with our hymnody? Even where there is not such rooted disgust as I have implied, there is a growing conviction that some reform is needed in words or music, or both.A Practical Discourse on Some Principles of Hymn-Singing, Robert Bridges

Sources: Dictionary.com, Free Dictionary

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