book of hours

American  

Or Book of Hours

noun

1. a book containing the prescribed order of prayers, readings from Scripture, and rites for the canonical hours.

---

book of hours British  

noun

1. (often capitals) a book used esp in monasteries during the Middle Ages that contained the prayers and offices of the canonical hours

---

Example Sentences

As she tells it, Marguerite Steed Hoffman fell for a medieval book of hours at once, at the 2010 European Fine Arts Fair in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

From New York Times • Feb. 29, 2024

Step inside the world’s most beautiful calendar, as Jason Farago, a critic for The Times, guides you through an invaluable 15th-century book of hours, in which science, religion and art coalesce.

From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2023

The star of its stunning exhibition of mostly 16th-century French material is a book of hours once owned by Francis I of France.

From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2011

Like its predecessors, this book of hours by an anonymous 15th century French master is a magnificent work of art.

From Time Magazine Archive

She who wanted her sister to have the crust and the flowers, had brought her a beautiful painted book of hours that had cost a whole franc.

From Bebee by Ouida