devotional

Etymology

It is formed from English devotion + -al.^[2][3][4][5] Devotion, recorded from about 1200, is from Middle English devocioun, from Old French devocion (“devotion, piety”) and directly Latin dēvōtiō, a noun of action from dēvoveō (“to dedicate by a vow”), formed from dē- (“down, away”) and voveō (“to vow”), the source of vow.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to religious devotion or worship: 1649, in the Eikon Basilike.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the adjective to 1648,^[6] Etymonline to the 1640s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective has kept its religious sense; a wider use for what arises from devoted attachment to a person, recorded from 1677, is rare.^[2] The noun appeared in 1659 for a devotional composition or form of prayer;^[2][4][6] the OED, in an entry first published in 1895 and not fully revised, marks it obsolete,^[2] but Merriam-Webster and Collins record it for a short service of worship, especially one held before a meeting that is not itself religious.^[6][7] Johnson (1755) defined the adjective as pertaining to devotion and worship, with a quotation from King Charles.^[8]

Timeline

• 1649 – relating to religious devotion or worship.^[2]
• 1659 – noun, a devotional composition or form of prayer.^[2][6]
• 1677 – arising from devoted attachment to a person (rare).^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to, used in or marked by religious devotion: a devotional book.^[7][6][2]
2. (rare) Arising from devoted attachment to a person.^[2]

Noun

1. A short religious service or prayer, often one held before a meeting that is not itself religious.^[6][7]

Word family

• devotionally
• devotionality
• nondevotional
• undevotional

Related words

• devote
• devout
• vow
• votive

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.