matins
Britishnoun
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RC Church the first of the seven canonical hours of prayer, originally observed at night but now often recited with lauds at daybreak
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the service of morning prayer in the Church of England
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literary a morning song, esp of birds
Etymology
Origin of matins
C13: from Old French, ultimately from Latin mātūtīnus of the morning, from Mātūta goddess of dawn
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Those moments once felt sacred, like matins, the quiet prelude to a day of work.
From Slate • Apr. 12, 2021
As I recall, there was a lot of tension between those who wanted a quiet life of matins and evensong running along like liturgical clockwork, and those who wanted to bring in “new life.”
From The New Yorker • Nov. 30, 2014
I went to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, and they had a beautiful chapel where we had matins most days.
From The Guardian • Jun. 9, 2014
In St. George Cathedral more than 100 stocking-footed priests of the Coptic Christian Church began their matins to the booming rhythms of a throbbing bass drum and the jangle of silver rattles.
From Time Magazine Archive
Bells call them to vespers, to matins, to noonday prayer.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
