Tenebrae

[ ten-uh-brey ]

/ ˈtɛn əˌbreɪ /

noun (used with a singular or plural verb) Roman Catholic Church.

the office of matins and lauds for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Holy Week, sung respectively on the afternoon of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of that week, at which the Crucifixion is commemorated by the gradual extinguishment of candles.

Origin of Tenebrae

1645–55; < Latin: literally, darkness

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tenebrae

It seemed to them that they were ready to enter a church on the day of Tenebrae.
Notre-Dame de Paris|Victor Hugo
Si ergo lumen, quod in te est, tenebrae sunt, ipsae tenebrae quantae erunt?
Selections from Early Middle English 1130-1250: Part II: Notes|Various
It arose thus: Lafontaine went one day with Racine to tenebrae, and was given a Bible.
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol 1|The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D.

British Dictionary definitions for tenebrae

Tenebrae

/ (ˈtɛnəˌbreɪ) /

noun

(functioning as singular or plural) RC Church (formerly) the matins and lauds for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Holy Week, usually sung in the evenings or at night

Word Origin for Tenebrae

C17: from Latin: darkness

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012