nocturn

[ nok-turn ]

/ ˈnɒk tɜrn /

noun Roman Catholic Church.

the office of matins, consisting of nine psalms and either three or nine lessons.

Nearby words

noctis, noctograph, noctuid, noctule, nocturia, nocturn, nocturnal, nocturnal arc, nocturnal emission, nocturnal enuresis, nocturnal myoclonus

Origin of nocturn

before 1150; Middle English nocturne < Medieval Latin nocturna, noun use of feminine of Latin nocturnus by night; replacing Old English noctern < Medieval Latin, as above

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

Examples from the Web for nocturn

It was to be lighted again by one of the novices appointed for the purpose during the last psalm of each Nocturn.
English Monastic Life|Abbot Gasquet
The elders did not observe the nocturn that night until prime on the morrow.
The Latin & Irish Lives of Ciaran|Anonymous
The contessa's reception began at the first nocturn, between sunset and midnight.
The Saracen: Land of the Infidel|Robert Shea
At half-past three in the afternoon the first nocturn began, with the Psalms, Lessons, etc.
Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from Italy and Switzerland|Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

When all were assembled, fifteen psalms were sung; then came the nocturn and more psalms.
Curiosities of Christian History|Croake James

British Dictionary definitions for nocturn

nocturn

/ (ˈnɒktɜːn) /

noun

RC Church any of the main sections of the office of matins

Word Origin for nocturn

C13: from Medieval Latin nocturna, from Latin nocturnus nocturnal, from nox night

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 nocturn

nocturn

a division of the office of matins, early 13c., from Old French nocturne "evening service; curfew," from Medieval Latin nocturna, "group of Psalms used in the nocturns," from Latin nocturnus (see nocturnal).