as in hymn
a religious song
the monks offered up a canticle at dawn on Easter morning
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Recent Examples of canticle
Her vocal elevates the song far beyond even its folk roots to something far more traditional, a canticle, a spiritual.
—
Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
That’s the opening line of Slipknot’s rage-rot canticle.
—Spin Contributor, SPIN, 12 Feb. 2025
The leaders of this communal canticle were the women of Boygenius — Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus.
—Stephen Daw, Billboard, 3 Oct. 2023
The first was Bach’s glorious 12-part canticle, premiered in 1723 as the conclusion of the Christmas Vespers in Leipzig as a sort of meet-your-new-cantor demonstration of his powers.
—Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2021
The first was that the canticle contains an encomium of Saint Dominic, who in Merwin’s eyes was the most villainous churchman of the Middle Ages.
—Robert Pogue Harrison, The New York Review of Books, 17 Aug. 2017
For many students of Dante, Purgatory is the Divine Comedy’s central canticle poetically, philosophically, and psychologically.
—Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2021
Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
That’s the opening line of Slipknot’s rage-rot canticle.
—Spin Contributor, SPIN, 12 Feb. 2025
The leaders of this communal canticle were the women of Boygenius — Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus.
—Stephen Daw, Billboard, 3 Oct. 2023
The first was Bach’s glorious 12-part canticle, premiered in 1723 as the conclusion of the Christmas Vespers in Leipzig as a sort of meet-your-new-cantor demonstration of his powers.
—Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2021
The first was that the canticle contains an encomium of Saint Dominic, who in Merwin’s eyes was the most villainous churchman of the Middle Ages.
—Robert Pogue Harrison, The New York Review of Books, 17 Aug. 2017
For many students of Dante, Purgatory is the Divine Comedy’s central canticle poetically, philosophically, and psychologically.
—Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canticle
Noun
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Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 310 W. 17th St., holds Holy Eucharist Rite I at 8 a.m and Holy Eucharist Rite II with hymns at 10:30 a.m. and Evensong at 4 p.m. Sundays.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
15 Feb. 2025
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In his first week as FCC chair, Carr has revived complaints against ABC, NBC and CBS, again singing from Trump’s hymn book, alleging liberal bias at the national networks.—
Scott Roxborough,
The Hollywood Reporter,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Over the years, the band has consistently delivered hard-hitting anthems that resonate with fans, and its latest album, Popular Monster, has only reinforced its position as one of the most dominant acts in modern rock.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes,
6 Mar. 2025
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The grunge anthem made for an apropos song choice as Lombard Jr. – who smoked a line drive to left – is the youngest player in Yankees camp.—
Gary Phillips,
Hartford Courant,
5 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The Lady Olive certainly sank: All of its crew members escaped in lifeboats, singing psalms to stave off hypothermia, and were saved after 36 hours at sea.—
Sean Kingsley,
Smithsonian Magazine,
18 Feb. 2025
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He is known as the patron saint of bookbinders and wrote an illustrative book of psalms while at the monastery of St. Finnian, according to Discovering Ireland.—
Joyce Orlando,
The Tennessean,
15 Mar. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Canticle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canticle. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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