the.com/hymnal
A book of lyrics everyone claims to know and secretly reads line by line.
means A bound collection of hymns used for congregational singing in worship.
from From Latin 'hymnus' and ultimately Greek 'hymnos,' meaning a song of praise — the Greeks used it for odes honoring gods or heroes. The suffix '-al' just marks it as 'the book of' those songs, the same pattern as 'journal' or 'manual.' So a hymnal is, at root, simply 'the praise-song book.'
- origin
- from Greek hymnos, meaning song of praise
- pew trick
- page numbers posted so no one admits forgetting
- shelf life
- many congregations still use centuries-old tunes
- copyright chaos
- some hymns are public domain, others fiercely licensed