doxology

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin doxologia,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek δοξολογία (doxología, “praise, glory”),^[2][7][1] an abstract noun from δοξολόγος (doxológos, “uttering praise”),^[2][1] made up of δόξα (dóxa, “glory; opinion”) and -λογος (-logos, “speaking”),^[2][7] the ending of -logy.^[7][3] Barnhart allows a route through French doxologie.^[8] The first element is usually taken from δοκέω (dokéō, “to seem; to seem good”),^[3][9][10] and Etymonline derives it from Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“to take, accept”);^[3][4] Beekes connects it with the verb but finds the formation unclear.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The utterance of praise to God, thanksgiving: 1649, in J. Taylor's Great Exemplar.^[2][8] Etymonline and Dictionary.com have the 1640s,^[3][12] and the Merriam-Webster Unabridged about 1645.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The general sense of giving praise soon gave way: the OED's last record is from 1660.^[2] From 1664, in H. More, the word meant a short set form of praise, especially in the liturgy.^[2] The two best-known came to be called the Greater Doxology, the Gloria in excelsis, and the Lesser Doxology, the Gloria Patri.^[2][13] Johnson (1755) defined it as a form of giving glory to God, and his quotation from South's sermons uses it of the praises of David.^[14] From 1906 the word is also recorded outside religion, for any utterance of praise or thanksgiving.^[2]

Timeline

• 1649 – the utterance of praise to God (obsolete by 1660).^[2]
• 1664 – a short formula of praise to God, especially in the liturgy.^[2]
• 1906 – an utterance of praise and thanksgiving in general.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A short hymn, verse or form of words praising God, especially in Christian liturgy, such as the Gloria.^[6][10][2]
2. An utterance of praise or thanksgiving for some event, outside worship.^[10][2]
3. (obsolete, 1649–60) The utterance of praise to God; thanksgiving.^[2][10][13]

Word family

• doxological
• doxologically

Related words

• dogma
• orthodox
• paradox
• -logy

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.