Word of the Day for Saturday, December 24, 2011
canticle \KAN-ti-kuhl\, noun:
1. A song, poem, or hymn especially of praise.
2. One of the nonmetrical hymns or chants, chiefly from the Bible, used in church services.
And, yes, finally, I understood the love in this canticle not just as love between man and woman as they unite, but between the Creator and His people, our Israel.
-- Donna Jo Napoli, "Song of the Magdalene"
Of course, anyone who writes canticles must know the life of the saint to perfection, to the least trivial detail.
-- Anton Chekhov, "The Bishop and Other Stories"
Canticle comes from the Latin word canticum meaning “song.” (That is also the root of “canto.”) The suffix -ule implies a diminutive version, like the word capsule.
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