hymnal

[him-nl]

noun

Also called hymn·book

[him-boo k] /ˈhɪmˌbʊk/. a book of hymns for use in a religious service.

adjective

of or relating to hymns.

Nearby words

Origin of hymnal

1535–45; (in def 1) < Medieval Latin hymnāle, noun use of neuter of hymnālis (adj.); (in def 2) < Medieval Latin hymnālis; see hymn, -al¹, -al²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hymnal

Surreally, a choir of high school students at the gate adjoining ours begins singing a hymnal.
Hallucinating Away a Heroin Addiction|Abby Haglage|May 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For his part, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is singing from Reid's hymnal.
Prism and the NSA: Something Congress Can Agree On|Lloyd Green|June 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The General Conference of 1889 ordered the publication of a hymnal that should be fully adapted to the needs of our church.
The Otterbein Hymnal|Edmund S. Lorenz
"Too cheerful for a hymnal," said Julia, shaking her head and smiling up into his eyes.
The Open Question|Elizabeth Robins

Mrs. Eddy has contributed the words of three of the hymns in the Hymnal.
Christian Science|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
The last hymn does not appear in the present-day Primitive Methodist hymnal.
From Crow-Scaring to Westminster; an Autobiography|George Edwards M.P., O.B.E.
Behind her came the First Assistant with the prayer-book and hymnal.
Love Stories|Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for hymnal

hymnal

noun

a book of hymns

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of hymns

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

Word Origin and History for hymnal

hymnal

c.1500, imnale, himnale, from Medieval Latin hymnale, from ymnus, from Latin hymnus (see hymn). As an adjective, attested from 1640s. Hymnal measure, a quatrain, usually iambic, alternately rhymed, is so called for being the preferred verse form for English hymns (e.g. "Amazing Grace"), but it has been popular in English secular poetry as well, "though it almost always suggests the hymn, directly or ironically" [Miller Williams, "Patterns of Poetry," Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1986].