hymnus

Forms

hymnus m (genitive hymnī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὕμνος (húmnos, “song, hymn”).^[2][3][1][4] The Greek word, found from the Odyssey on, has no certain etymology;^[5][6] Beekes considers a derivation from ὑμήν (humḗn), as a “construction of songs”, possible but not proven.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite it from a fragment of Lucilius preserved by Nonius, in the sense of a song of praise.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In pagan Latin it named a song of praise to a god, and it remained rare: Seneca and Apuleius have it.^[3][7] With Christianity it became common for the songs of praise in worship.^[3][2] Lactantius calls the Psalmist the “writer of divine hymns”,^[2][3] the Vulgate uses it in the titles of the Psalms and in the Gospel of Matthew,^[2] and Augustine defines a hymn as a song with the praise of God.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it was a song of praise to God or a psalm, and especially the metrical hymn of the liturgy, distinguished by the office it belonged to or by its opening words;^[8][4][9] the phrase carmen hymnorum meant the Song of Songs, and the word could also be used of birdsong or of a secular song.^[9][4] From Latin it reached Old English and Old French, and so English hymn.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it, in a fragment quoted by Nonius.^[2][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a song of praise to a god.^[3][7][6]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius calls the Psalmist a writer of divine hymns.^[2][3][6]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius writes of hymns in his Cathemerinon.^[2][3][6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the Psalms and in Matthew.^[2][6]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine defines the hymn as a song of praise to God.^[2][6]
• c. 1000 – English takes it over, through Old English ymen and Old French ymne.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hymn, a song of praise to a god.^[2][3][11]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A hymn or song of praise to God sung in worship; a psalm.^[12][8][2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A metrical hymn of the liturgy.^[8][4][9]
4. (Medieval Latin) A song in general, also of birds; a secular song.^[9][4]

Related words

• English hymn

Usage notes

Medieval spellings include ymnus, imnus and hympnus.^[9][4] Carmen hymnorum was a medieval name for the Song of Songs.^[9]

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson