liturgical

Etymology

It is from Late Latin lītūrgicus with the English suffix -al,^[2][1] the Latin word being also called Medieval Latin.^[3][4] The Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek λειτουργικός (leitourgikós, “ministering”),^[5][3][1] from λειτουργός (leitourgós, “public servant, minister”),^[5][3][2] which is also the source of λειτουργία (leitourgía, “public service, public worship”) and so of liturgy.^[2][5] According to the OED, leitourgós is formed from a presumed adjective meaning "public", a derivative of λαός (laós, “people”), and an element meaning "that works";^[2] the American Heritage Dictionary and Etymonline trace that element to ἔργον (érgon, “work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to do”).^[6][5] The Shorter Oxford takes liturgical as formed from liturgic with -al,^[7] and Wiktionary notes that it can also be analysed as the noun with the suffix -ical.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having to do with public worship or its forms: 1641, in Milton's Animadversions.^[2][8][9] Etymonline gives the 1640s^[5] and Dictionary.com 1635–45.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Greek words behind it first had a civic meaning: Ayto notes that liturgy means etymologically "public performance",^[10] and Etymonline, quoting the Century Dictionary, explains that in ancient Athens a liturgy was a public service that wealthy citizens had to carry out at their own expense, such as staging a play or fitting out a warship.^[5] The Christian sense of public worship came through Late and Medieval Latin.^[2][5] In English the adjective has meant from the first "of or relating to public worship", and specifically to the Liturgy or Eucharistic service.^[2][7] Etymonline distinguishes this narrower sense, "of or pertaining to a liturgy", from the wider one, "pertaining to worship or religious ceremonies".^[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged adds the sense "in accordance with the officially prescribed form",^[9] and Merriam-Webster's dictionaries also use it of a church or sect that uses or favours liturgy.^[9][8] The shorter form liturgic is recorded from 1656,^[2] and the adverb liturgically from 1864.^[2][11]

Timeline

• 1641 – relating to public worship, its forms, or the Liturgy.^[2][8][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to, or in accordance with liturgy or public worship: liturgical music.^{[12][8][9][13][2]}
2. Following the officially prescribed form of a service; rubrical.^[9]
3. Using or favouring the use of liturgy: a liturgical church.^[12][8][9]
4. Of or relating to liturgics, the study of liturgies.^[7]

Word family

• liturgically
• antiliturgical
• nonliturgical

Related words

• liturgy
• liturgic
• liturgics
• liturgist
• lay
• energy
• work

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins