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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

canonical hour

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 Walpole, Horace

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

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 Reade, Charles

If the recital of the office for any canonical hour be interrupted, should the whole hour be repeated?

From The Divine Office by Quigley, Edward J.

For forty interminable minutes did the little party wait in the dreary church aisles, until the clock, and likewise the beadle, warned them it was near the canonical hour.

From Agatha's Husband A Novel by Crane, Walter