HYMN

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does hymn mean? 

• HYMN (noun)
  The noun HYMN has 1 sense:

1. a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)

  Familiarity information: HYMN used as a noun is very rare.

• HYMN (verb)
  The verb HYMN has 2 senses:

1. sing a hymn

2. praise by singing a hymn

  Familiarity information: HYMN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HYMN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

anthem; hymn

Hypernyms ("hymn" is a kind of...):

religious song (religious music for singing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hymn"):

dithyramb ((ancient Greece) a passionate hymn (usually in honor of Dionysus))

doxology (a hymn or verse in Christian liturgy glorifying God)

choral; chorale (a stately Protestant (especially Lutheran) hymn tune)

canticle (a hymn derived from the Bible)

hymeneal (a wedding hymn)

paean; pean ((ancient Greece) a hymn of praise (especially one sung in ancient Greece to invoke or thank a deity))

recessional (a hymn that is sung at the end of a service as the clergy and choir withdraw)

Instance hyponyms:

Dies Irae (the first words of a medieval Latin hymn describing the Last Judgment (literally 'day of wrath'))

Internationale (a revolutionary socialist anthem)

Te Deum (an ancient liturgical hymn)

Derivation:

hymn (praise by singing a hymn)

hymn (sing a hymn)

• HYMN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they hymn    ... he / she / it hymns   
Past simple: hymned   
Past participle: hymned   
-ing form: hymning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sing a hymn

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "hymn" is one way to...):

sing (deliver by singing)

Domain category:

music (musical activity (singing or whistling etc.))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue hymn

Derivation:

hymn (a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Praise by singing a hymn

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

They hymned their love of God

Hypernyms (to "hymn" is one way to...):

exalt; extol; glorify; laud; proclaim (praise, glorify, or honor)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue hymn

Derivation:

hymn (a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation))

 Context examples 

“Shall it be a litany, my good clerk?” shouted a third; “or would a hymn be good enough to serve?”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Beth went to the piano and played the father's favorite hymn.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A long grace was said and a hymn sung; then a servant brought in some tea for the teachers, and the meal began.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Seeing this did more for Jo than the wisest sermons, the saintliest hymns, the most fervent prayers that any voice could utter.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Sometimes, preoccupied with her work, she sang the refrain very low, very lingeringly; "A long time ago" came out like the saddest cadence of a funeral hymn.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The room was very still, when the clear voice failed suddenly at the last line of Beth's favorite hymn.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Thanks being returned for what we had not got, and a second hymn chanted, the refectory was evacuated for the schoolroom.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"Go to bed and don't talk, for we must be up early and shall need all the sleep we can get. Good night, my darlings," said Mrs. March, as the hymn ended, for no one cared to try another.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

So, sitting at the dear little piano, Beth softly touched the keys, and in the sweet voice they had never thought to hear again, sang to her own accompaniment the quaint hymn, which was a singularly fitting song for her.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)