canonical hour

American  

noun

1. 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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canonical hour British  

noun

1. RC Church

   1. one of the seven prayer times appointed for each day by canon law

   2. the services prescribed for these times, namely matins, prime, terce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline

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

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Etymology

Origin of canonical hour

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

canonical hour

Deuce of any ghost shall we see to-night; it's long past the canonical hour.

From Humorous Ghost Stories by Dorothy Scarborough

Nay, as an Irishman would say, you need not even read this note till the canonical hour is past.

From The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford — Volume 4 by Horace Walpole

She would not wait for the canonical hour at which young ladies go out, but put on her bonnet directly after breakfast.

From Foul Play by Charles Reade

To sing the requiems Is thine by special right, To each canonical hour, In which the bells are rung.

From The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, December 1864 by Various

"Kaylúlah," mid-day sleep; called siesta from the sixth canonical hour.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 by Sir Richard Francis Burton

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