compline

Also com·plin

[kom-plin, -plahyn]

noun

Ecclesiastical.

1. the last of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it, originally occurring after the evening meal but now usually following immediately upon vespers.

compline

/ ˈkɒmplɪn, ˈkɒmplɪn, -plaɪn /

noun

1. RC Church the last of the seven canonical hours of the divine office

Word History and Origins

Origin of compline¹

1175–1225; Middle English comp ( e ) lin, equivalent to compli, cump ( e ) lie (< Old French complie, cumplie < Latin complēta ( hōra ) complete (hour) + -in (of matin )

Word History and Origins

Origin of compline¹

C13: from Old French complie, from Medieval Latin hōra complēta, literally: the completed hour, from Latin complēre to fill up, _complete

Example Sentences

I have also, for example, gathered over Zoom with friends for compline, a nighttime prayer with roots in the medieval monastic tradition.

Read more on New York Times

He is no longer strong enough, he said, to regularly attend the first or last of Mepkin’s seven daily prayer services — vigils at 3:20 a.m., and compline at 7:35 p.m.

Read more on New York Times

As I stared at it, the bells in its square steeple rang the hour of compline.

Read more on Literature

The ancient service of compline, chanted in the beauty and warmth of candlelight by the St. John’s Choir, will be directed by organist and choirmaster Samuel Carabetta.

Read more on Washington Post

In the end, my longing for evensong was satisfied by the twilit encore, Gustav Holst’s setting of the “Nunc Dimittis,” the Latin canticle for the nighttime service of compline.

Read more on Washington Post