antiphon

American  

[an-tuh-fon] / ˈæn təˌfɒn /

noun

1. a verse or song to be chanted or sung in response.

2. Ecclesiastical.

   1. a psalm, hymn, or prayer sung in alternate parts.

   2. a verse or a series of verses sung as a prelude or conclusion to some part of the service.

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antiphon British  

/ ˈæntɪfən /

noun

1. a short passage, usually from the Bible, recited or sung as a response after certain parts of a liturgical service

2. a psalm, hymn, etc, chanted or sung in alternate parts

3. any response or answer

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Etymology

Origin of antiphon

1490–1500; < Medieval Latin antiphōna responsive singing < Greek ( tà ) antíphōna, neuter plural of antíphōnos sounding in answer, equivalent to anti- anti- + phōn ( ḗ ) sound + -os adj. suffix. Cf. anthem

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

antiphon

Between the two versions of “Spiritus sanctus vivificans vita,” an antiphon by Hildegard von Bingen, for example, or between that antiphon’s simplicity and the angular density of George Enescu’s “Fantaisie concertante.”

From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2022

As Scott Metcalfe, the ensemble’s director, said in remarks from the stage, that single antiphon constitutes the complete works of Chamberlayne.

From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2019

Some of them joined in the singing of the final antiphon, and others took turns walking away from the stage while playing, letting the sound swirl through space like incense.

From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2013

When De Gasperi outlined the points of his new government's program in the Chamber of Deputies, Communist deputies shrilled a dissenting antiphon.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the religious, arming himself with the sign of the cross, and reciting the antiphon, Ecce lignum crucis, managed to gather some of the ripe fruit, which the tree offered.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 21 of 55 1624 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century. by Robertson, James Alexander

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