requiem

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin requiem (“mass for the dead”),^[2][3][4] and partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman requiem, recorded in Anglo-Norman from the 13th century.^[2][5] The Latin noun is the accusative of Latin requiēs (“rest, repose”),^[2][6][7][8] the first word of the introit of the Mass for the Dead, “Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine”, "grant them eternal rest, Lord".^[2][7][9] Requiēs is formed from re- and quiēs (“rest, quiet”),^[2][6][8] the source of quiet,^[7][10] from Proto-Indo-European *kweiə- (“to rest, be quiet”).^[11][6] In post-classical Latin requiēs also meant eternal rest, the source of an obsolete English sense.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mass for the souls of the dead: Barnhart's first record is in Robert Mannyng's Handlyng Synne, about 1303;^[3] the OED's and the Middle English Dictionary's is from 1389, in a Norfolk guild return that speaks of a messe of requiem.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to about 1300.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The word began as the name of the Latin text that opened the mass, and by extension came to name the whole mass for the dead.^[2][7][12] In Middle English it could also mean eternal rest, or death.^[4] From 1565 requiem was used for rest or peace in general, a sense obsolete by the early 19th century;^[2] Johnson (1755) marked it "not in use".^[13] From the 1570s it also meant any dirge or solemn chant for the dead.^[2][11] From 1635 it also named a sound, such as birdsong or the sea, heard as a lament.^[2] The sense of a musical setting of the mass, as by a composer, appears in 1772.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1303 – a mass for the dead.^[3] The OED's first record is from 1389.^[2][4]
• 1565 – rest, repose, especially of the soul (obsolete by 1816).^[2]
• 1578 – any dirge or chant for the dead.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense to the 1610s.^[11]
• 1635 – a sound heard as a lament.^[2]
• 1772 – a musical setting of the mass for the dead.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. In the Roman Catholic Church and some other churches, a mass said or sung for the souls of the dead.^[14][15][2]
2. A musical setting of this mass.^[14][15][2]
3. Any piece of music, poem or chant composed or performed in memory of the dead; a dirge.^[14][15][2]
4. (obsolete, 1565–1816) Rest or repose.^[2][13][4]

Related words

• requiescat
• quiet
• quiescent
• quit
• requite

Usage notes

The requiem or requiem shark (1666) has a separate source: French requiem, an old variant of requin (“shark”), of uncertain origin; the form was probably altered by association with the mass for the dead, a person taken by the shark being as good as dead.^[2][9]

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 v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster