responsory

American  

[ri-spon-suh-ree] / rɪˈspɒn sə ri /

noun

Ecclesiastical.

responsories plural

1. an anthem sung after a lection by a soloist and choir alternately.

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responsory British  

/ rɪˈspɒnsərɪ /

noun

1. Christianity an anthem or chant consisting of versicles and responses and recited or sung after a lesson in a church service

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• responsories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of responsory

1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin respōnsōrium, equivalent to Latin respond ( ēre ) to respond + -tōrium -tory ², with dt > s

Example Sentences

Dynamics were also crucial: When Jesus cried out on the cross in the “Tenebrae” responsory, “exclamavit” was startlingly loud; his death, “emisit spiritum,” was barely audible.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

In Passiontide the Gloria Patri is not said, but the responsory is repeated ab initio.

From The Divine Office by Quigley, Edward J.

Two versicles of responsory next, and then the Mother Superior began to intone the Magnificat, and Sister Giovanna took up the grand plain-chant with the others.

From The White Sister by Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)

The ferial preces of Lauds are found in the Breviary, immediately after the second set of Psalms for ferial Lauds and after the short responsory in the psalm arrangements for the days of the week.

From The Divine Office by Quigley, Edward J.

This responsory system of reading Holy Scripture is still retained in its old form in the case of the Ten Commandments when read in the Communion service.

From The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia by Miller, William James