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View synonyms for psalm

psalm

[ sahm ]

noun

  1. a sacred song or hymn.
  2. (initial capital letter) any of the songs, hymns, or prayers contained in the Book of Psalms.
  3. a metric version or paraphrase of any of these.
  4. a poem of a similar nature.


psalm

/ sɑːm /

noun

  1. often capital any of the 150 sacred songs, lyric poems, and prayers that together constitute a book (Psalms) of the Old Testament
  2. a musical setting of one of these poems
  3. any sacred song or hymn
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈpsalmic, adjective
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Other Words From

  • psalmic adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of psalm1

before 900; Middle English psalm ( e ), s ( e ) alm ( e ), psame, Old English ps ( e ) alm, sealm < Late Latin psalmus < Greek psalmós song sung to the harp, originally, a plucking, as of strings, akin to psállein to pluck, pull, play (the harp)
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Word History and Origins

Origin of psalm1

Old English, from Late Latin psalmus, from Greek psalmos song accompanied on the harp, from psallein to play (the harp)
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Example Sentences

A small group prayed and sang a psalm as cars boarded the boat, but several hundred other people stood and clapped as a show of support for the sailing.

From BBC

You write about how praying a psalm got you through a blinding, tension-induced migraine headache on your first day as co-host of “Today” in 2012, which came after a very rocky period for the program.

Green, of Carmarthen in west Wales, held what was described in court as a "large sign" displaying the psalm text "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb".

From BBC

It arrived as the music of dire necessity, the work song, the psalm, and was subsequently used to distract and entertain captors, or to scare them off with screams and moans they couldn’t decipher.

“O Lord, how manifold are thy works!,” cried out David in his psalm.

From Salon

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