psalm
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English salm or psalme, from Old English psealm, later reinforced from Old French psalme (modern French psaume), both from Latin psalmus, from Ancient Greek ψαλμός (psalmós, “the sound emanating from twitching or twanging perhaps with the hands or fingers, mostly of musical strings”) (from ψάλλω (psállō, “to make a sound by striking, touching, plucking, rubbing, twanging, or vibrating”)), but later in New Testament times the meaning of ψαλμός (psalmós) evolved from its Classical meaning of "a tune played to the harp" to a more general tune that could be played with any instrument; even a song sung with or without musical accompaniment. By the Byzantine Period, it lost all of its instrumental nuances.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /sɑːm/
- (US) IPA(key): /sɑm/, /sɑlm/, /sɔm/, /sɔlm/, (obsolete) /sæm/[1]
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑːm, -ɑːlm, -ɔːlm
Noun edit
psalm (plural psalms)
- (religion, music) A sacred song; a poetical composition for use in the praise or worship of God.
- One of the hymns by David and others, collected into one book of the Old Testament, or a modern metrical version of such a hymn for public worship.
Derived terms edit
- psalmist
- psalmodic
- psalmody
- Psalms (name of the book of the Bible in which the psalms are collected)
- psalm-smiter
Related terms edit
Translations edit
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Verb edit
psalm (third-person singular simple present psalms, present participle psalming, simple past and past participle psalmed)
- To extol in psalms; to make music; to sing
- to psalm his praises.
- 2012, George D. Manjounes, Good Morning, Morning Glory:
- I psalmed like a Moslem high in his mosque. And like a Greek priest, I sang the divine liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
Translations edit
References edit
- ^ Meredith, L. P. (1872) “Psalm”, in Every-Day Errors of Speech[1], Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott & Co., page 37.
Anagrams edit
Dutch edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Noun edit
psalm m (plural psalmen, diminutive psalmpje n)
Descendants edit
Middle English edit
Noun edit
psalm
- Alternative form of salm
Polish edit
Etymology edit
Learned borrowing from Latin psalmus.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
psalm m inan (related adjective psalmowy)
- (music, religion) psalm (a sacred song; a poetical composition for use in the praise or worship of God)
- (biblical) psalm (one of the hymns by David and others, collected into one book of the Old Testament, or a modern metrical version of such a hymn for public worship)
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic ѱалъмъ (psalŭmŭ), from Ancient Greek ψαλμός (psalmós).
Noun edit
psalm m (plural psalmi)
Declension edit
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
From Old Swedish salmber, psalmber, from Old Norse salmr, psalmr, from Latin psalmus, from Ancient Greek ψαλμός (psalmós, “the sound emenating from twitching or twanging perhaps with the hands or fingers, mostly of musical strings”).
Noun edit
psalm c
Usage notes edit
- Denominations in Sweden outside of the Church of Sweden (e.g. baptists) have traditionally not used the word psalm, but rather visa, sång (song). Recent integrated hymnbooks are titled Psalmer och visor (1976) and Psalmer och Sånger (1987) to indicated that they cover both the Church of Sweden and other denominations.
Declension edit
| Declension of psalm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | psalm | psalmen | psalmer | psalmerna |
| Genitive | psalms | psalmens | psalmers | psalmernas |
References edit
- psalm in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- psalm in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- psalm in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)