novena
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of novena
1850–55; < Medieval Latin novēna, noun use of feminine singular of Latin novēnus nine each
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.
See Examples For:
The neighborhood house that I visit every year to pray the novena in honor of Guadalupe with others has seen way fewer people than last year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025
But she thought of this daily ritual as a kind of novena: a prayer repeated for nine days to appeal a misfortune or request a special favor.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2023
Sometimes I post a prayer, like the Christmas novena, which my mother-in-law always said at the table on Christmas Eve.
From Fox News ● Dec. 12, 2021
At St. Patrick, parishioners set aside a time every day for a novena prayer.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2021
My mother and Ultima sang some prayers, part of a novena we had promised for the safe delivery of my brothers.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
They also plan on incorporating novenas, which involves nine consecutive nights of prayer and singing villancicos.
From New York Times ● Dec. 24, 2022
Some started novenas, or nine-day prayers, and encouraged family and friends to join in.
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2022
Pueblo medicine men filled the rooms of the sick with smoke, and Hispanic villagers crowded around the dying, saying the rosary and praying novenas.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 24, 2020
The prayer cycles of "novenas" are over nine days.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2017
I joined in Padre Ignacio’s Holy Week activities, going to the nightly novenas and daily mass.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
