hymn ( n silent), ympne

[O. French ymne, hymne, from Lat. hymn us; Gr. hymnos.] 1. A song or ode in praise, honor, or adoration of God, or some deity; a sacred song. 2. Spec .: A sacred composition in poetry intended to be sung with or without the aid of a musical instrument, and not being versified from the book of Psalms, else it is called a Psalm, or directly from any other part of Scripture, or else it is a paraphrase. Hilary, Bishop of Arles, is said to have composed the first hymn for Christian worship about A. D. 431, but as early as the time of Pliny the Younger the Christians are said to have habitually sung one to Christ as God. On Dec. 9, 633, the Council of Toledo sanctioned the use of hymns in churches. Luther did much to popularize hymnody in the infant Protestant Church in Germany. Of the hymns now in use many were composed by Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, John Wesley, and Cowper. Many devotional English hymns are translations from the German, or from the Latın and Greek hymns of the early or of the medieval Church. Prominent among Americans who have written hymns are Oliver Wendell Holmes, Phœbe Cary, P. P. Bli , Ira D. Sankey, Julia Ward Howe who wrote "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and Samuel Francis Smith, author of the national hymn "America." IMG:content-1401.jpg:[graphic] IMG:content-1402.jpg:[blocks in formation] 1. To praise, adore, or worship in hymns; to sing 2. To expre or describe in hymns; to sing. "Hymn the requiem to his parted soul." Southey: Joan of Arc, bk. viii. B. In trans.: To sing hymns or songs in praise of adoration. "The hymning angels, and the herald star." Cowper: To Charles Deodati . (Trans.) hỹm-nal, s . [Eng. hymn; -al.] A collection of hymns, especially one for use in public worship. hỹm-nic, *hým'-nicke, a. [Eng. hymn; -ic.] Relating or pertaining to hymns. hym-nist, s. [Eng. hymn; -ist.] A composer of hymns. "We have a pretty clear indication of the birthplace of the hymnist."-W. E. Gladstone: Homeric Synchronism, IMG:content-1403.png:[blocks in formation] hym-no-dỹ, s . [Eng. hymn; suff. -ody , as in psalmody .] The same as HYMNOLOGY (q. v.). "This hymnody would lengthen the burial-service." Matthew Arnold : Last E ays , p. 220.