antiphon

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Middle French antiphone (“psalm; sacred song sung responsively”), recorded from 1414,^[2][3][4] and partly borrowed from Late Latin antiphōna (“sacred song sung responsively”),^[2][3][4][5] recorded from the 4th century.^[2] Barnhart thinks the Latin source the more likely.^[4] The Latin word is the plural Ancient Greek ἀντίφωνα (antíphōna) understood as a feminine singular,^[2][6][7] of ἀντίφωνον (antíphōnon, “concord in the octave”), the noun use of ἀντίφωνος (antíphōnos, “sounding in response”).^[2][8] This adjective is formed from ἀντί (antí, “in return, against”) and φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”),^[3][4][6][7] the latter from Proto-Indo-European *bha- (“to speak, tell, say”).^[3] The same Latin word had been borrowed earlier as Old English antefn, which became anthem, so that the two English words are doublets.^{[3][9][10][2]}

Earliest recorded meaning

A short piece of plainsong sung or recited before and after a psalm or canticle: about 1450, in a text printed in the Miscellany of the Maitland Club.^[2] Hoad, the Oxford Dictionary of English and Merriam-Webster Unabridged also date it to the 15th century,^[11][8][12] while Barnhart and Etymonline give about 1500.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The word was reborrowed after its older English form had changed in sound and started to change in sense: anthem had meant a line sung as a response through the 14th century, according to Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories,^[10] though Ayto has that meaning die out only in the 18th.^[9] Antiphon then became the usual term for the sung liturgical response.^[10] From about 1500 it also covered any liturgical song performed responsively between two sides or choirs.^[2] From 1616 to 1859 it also meant a response given by one voice or choir to another.^[2] Outside the church it came to mean any response or answer (before 1639, in H. Wotton),^[2][7] and in the 20th century a series of reciprocated cries or other noises (1928).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – a short piece of plainsong sung before and after a psalm or canticle.^[2]
• c. 1500 – a liturgical song sung responsively.^[2][4][3]
• 1616 – a response from one voice or choir to another (obsolete by 1859).^[2]
• before 1639 – in extended use, a response or answer.^[2]
• 1928 – a series of reciprocated utterances, cries or other noises.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A short passage, usually from the Bible, sung or recited before or after a psalm or canticle.^[13][2][12]
2. A psalm, hymn or other sacred song chanted in alternate parts, as by two choirs.^[13][12][2]
3. Any of three chants of the Mass: the introit, offertory and communion.^[12]
4. A response or answer: The opposition met the plan with an antiphon of protest.^[13][12][2]
5. A series of cries or other noises answering one another.^[2]
6. (obsolete, 1616–1859) A verse or sentence given by one voice or choir in reply to another.^[2][7]

Word family

• antiphonal
• antiphonary
• antiphony
• antiphonic

Related words

• anthem
• anti-
• phone
• phonetic
• telephone

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins