recessional

American  

[ri-sesh-uh-nl] / rɪˈsɛʃ ə nl /

adjective

1. of or relating to a recession of the clergy and choir after the service.

2. of or relating to a recess, as of a legislative body.

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noun

1. a hymn or other piece of music played at the end of a service while the congregation is filing out.

recessional British  

/ rɪˈsɛʃənəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to recession

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noun

1. a hymn sung as the clergy and choir withdraw from the chancel at the conclusion of a church service

Etymology

Origin of recessional

First recorded in 1865–70; recession ¹ + -al ¹

Example Sentences

First, his uncle, a hawklike French general, wedded him to the glorious cause of carving an African empire for La Patrie, with words that made Kipling's "Recessional" sound like a nursery rhyme.

From Time Magazine Archive

Unprized Packaging Sir: Recessional Sir: How can anyone call this a depression when the consumer is paying inflation prices for inferior goods and services?

From Time Magazine Archive

At the end of the quiet service the Abbey choir soared into Kipling's stirring Recessional.

From Time Magazine Archive

He hemmed through Kipling's Recessional, hawed through the parable of the talents�and needled the liberals unmercifully.

From Time Magazine Archive

Perhaps also for this reason we raise the Recessional prayer for a humble and contrite heart, lest we forget our history—lest we forget.

From Essays in Rebellion by Nevinson, Henry W.