nocturn

American  

[nok-turn] / ˈnɒk tɜrn /

noun

Roman Catholic Church.

1. the office of matins, consisting of nine psalms and either three or nine lessons.

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nocturn British  

/ ˈnɒktɜːn /

noun

1. RC Church any of the main sections of the office of matins

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Etymology

Origin of nocturn

before 1150; Middle English nocturne < Medieval Latin nocturna, noun use of feminine of Latin nocturnus by night; replacing Old English noctern < Medieval Latin, as above

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nocturn

The elders did not observe the nocturn that night until prime on the morrow.

From The Latin & Irish Lives of Ciaran Translations Of Christian Literature. Series V. Lives Of The Celtic Saints by R.A. Stewart MacAlister

Swinburne called this "the most sonorous nocturn ever chanted in the church of the world."

From The American Spirit in Literature : a chronicle of great interpreters by Bliss Perry

In the early Church intervals occurred between each nocturn.

From The Divine Office by Edward J. Quigley

The third nocturn is between midnight and dawn.

From The Saracen: Land of the Infidel by Robert Shea

In the Breviary, before the recent reform, twelve psalms were recited in the first nocturn of Sundays and on ferias.

From The Divine Office by Edward J. Quigley

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