psalm
Americannoun
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a sacred song or hymn.
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(initial capital letter) any of the songs, hymns, or prayers contained in the Book of Psalms.
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a metric version or paraphrase of any of these.
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a poem of a similar nature.
noun
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(often capital) any of the 150 sacred songs, lyric poems, and prayers that together constitute a book (Psalms) of the Old Testament
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a musical setting of one of these poems
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any sacred song or hymn
Other Word Forms
- psalmic adjective
Etymology
Origin of psalm
before 900; Middle English psalm ( e ), s ( e ) alm ( e ), psame, Old English ps ( e ) alm, sealm < Late Latin psalmus < Greek psalmós song sung to the harp, originally, a plucking, as of strings, akin to psállein to pluck, pull, play (the harp)
Explanation
A psalm is a religious song in the Bible. While you can read psalms as prayers, they are meant to be sung. The Book of Psalms is a section of the Christian Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible that includes 150 individual psalms. The word psalm, which is pronounced with a silent p, comes from the Greek word psalmos, "song sung to a harp," and its root, psallein, "play a stringed instrument." While they're not often backed by a harp these days, psalms are frequently sung with musical accompaniment in churches and temples.
Vocabulary lists containing psalm
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Passover Vocabulary
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Queen of the Sea
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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.
It arrived as the music of dire necessity, the work song, the psalm, and was subsequently used to distract and entertain captors, or to scare them off with screams and moans they couldn’t decipher.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 1, 2023
And Joy Dunlop, a BBC Weather presenter and Gaelic singer, will sing Gaelic psalm And I Shall Dwell in God's House, which was composed by Paul Mealor for the service.
From BBC • Jul. 4, 2023
Just as May’s coronation ceremony gave nods to the multicultural nature of Britain today, Wednesday’s church service will include a psalm sung in Gaelic.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 4, 2023
He takes Psalm 23, which is a really gentle psalm.
From Salon • Apr. 27, 2023
The word psalm sounds like a secret password.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
