responsory

American  

[ri-spon-suh-ree] / rɪˈspɒn sə ri /

noun

Ecclesiastical.

plural

responsories

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

---

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

---

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

The manner of reciting this responsory is sometimes not correctly understood, owing, perhaps, to its printed form in some Breviaries.

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

In this responsory the versicle Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris is sometimes changed, e.g., in paschal time it is, Qui surrexisti a mortuis.

From The Divine Office by Quigley, Edward J.

These collective masses appear to be at rest, simply by the equality of the motion—by the responsory impulse of the powers acting in them.

From The System of Nature, Volume 1 by Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'