psalmody

[ sah-muh-dee, sal-muh- ]

noun

, plural psal·mo·dies.

1. the act, practice, or art of setting psalms to music.
2. psalms or hymns collectively.
3. the act, practice, or art of singing psalms.

psalmody

/ ˈsɑːmədɪ; sɑːˈmɒdɪk; sæl-; ˈsæl- /

noun

1. the act of singing psalms or hymns
2. the art or practice of the setting to music or singing of psalms

Derived Forms

• psalmodic, adjective
• ˈpsalmodist, noun

Other Words From

• psal·mod·ic [sah-, mod, -ik, sal-], psal·modi·cal psal·mo·di·al [sah-, moh, -dee-, uh, l, sal-], adjective
• psalmo·dist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of psalmody¹

1300–50; Middle English < Late Latin psalmōdia < Greek psalmōidía singing to the harp. See psalm, ode, -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of psalmody¹

C14: via Late Latin from Greek psalmōdia singing accompanied by a harp, from psalmos (see psalm ) + ōidē ode

Example Sentences

Mr. Schleiermacher, comparing his group’s recording of the Largo with the scene from “Lucullus,” said that “there is indeed a certain similarity,” adding that both contain “echoes of liturgical recitative chants, almost psalmody.”

From New York Times

The Liszt pupils have had their say, and their pupils are beginning to intone the psalmody of uncritical praise.

From Project Gutenberg

These speculations were expanded into a myth relating that Satan was the steward of heaven, charged with the duty of collecting the daily amount of praise and psalmody due by the angels to God.

From Project Gutenberg

"It is ordered that we remember it in special prayer and psalmody to the Lord, with thanksgiving on the anniversary of our landing; you heard that, Constantia?" her stepmother responded.

From Project Gutenberg

The outer rows were for the novices, and the backs of their stalls formed the desks used by the professed monks, whereon they rested the ponderous tomes containing the sacred psalmody.

From Project Gutenberg