missal

[mis-uh l]

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter) Roman Catholic Church. the book containing the prayers and rites used by the priest in celebrating Mass over the course of the entire year.

any book of prayers or devotions.

Origin of missal

1300–50; Middle English < Medieval Latin missāle, noun use of neuter of missālis, equivalent to miss(a) Mass + -ālis -al¹

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

Examples from the Web for missal

Historical Examples of missal

"You should not have stepped out of your missal, Sylvia," he said sadly.
The Opal Serpent
Fergus Hume
Do they become disgusted with the Missal and Breviary by this daily familiarity?
Popular Education
Ira Mayhew
And the lady was forced to begin her ave without the aid of her missal.
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh
William Makepeace Thackeray
There it was that he had grown up, on the missal and the lexicon.
Notre-Dame de Paris
Victor Hugo
So he skinned the hare, and made a fire with the missal, and roasted and ate the hare.
Italian Popular Tales
Thomas Frederick Crane

British Dictionary definitions for missal

missal

noun

RC Church a book containing the prayers, rites, etc, of the Masses for a complete year

Word Origin for missal

C14: from Church Latin missale (n), from missālis concerning the Mass

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 missal

c.1300, from Old French messel "book of the Mass" (12c.) an ddirectly from Medieval Latin missale, neuter of adjective missalis "pertaining to the Mass," from Late Latin missa "Mass" (see mass (2)).