novena
Americannoun
plural
novenae, novenasnoun
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.
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
This wasn’t the miracle from God that she’d been praying for with her novena.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
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.
