canonical hour

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noun

Ecclesiastical. any of certain periods of the day set apart for prayer and devotion: these are matins and lauds, prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline.

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Origin of canonical hour

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Words nearby canonical hour

Canonchet, Canon City, canoness, canonical, canonical age, canonical hour, canonicals, canonicate, canonicity, Canonicus, canonist

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use canonical hour in a sentence

So here I am in my requisite Lululemon pants, grunting along to an old hip-hop song at a most ungodly hour.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
An hour later, he scored a second flight to Johannesburg for $380.
‘We Out Here’: Inside the New Black Travel Movement|Charlise Ferguson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He was released within the hour without a bond on his own recognizance.
What Would Happen if I Got in White Cop’s Face?|Goldie Taylor|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The child almost died from the delay of an hour in seeking help.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Her phone rings at least once an hour with questions from journalists, which she answers in Arabic, English, and sometimes French.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda|Ruth Michaelson|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The night wore on, and the clock downstairs was striking the hour of two when she suddenly awakened.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
The sound of my step shall make your heart jump; a look from me shall make you dumb for an hour.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Words are often everywhere as the minute-hands of the soul, more important than even the hour-hands of action.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
After an hour, however, he reached this decision: He would not go to or call up Mrs. Merley.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
It was the darkest hour of twilight, when there was just enough of gleam from the lurid sky, to shew the outline of objects.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter

British Dictionary definitions for canonical hour

canonical hour

noun

RC Church

one of the seven prayer times appointed for each day by canon law
the services prescribed for these times, namely matins, prime, terce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline

Church of England any time between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. at which marriages may lawfully be celebrated

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012