CANONICAL HOUR

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Meaning:

(Roman Catholic Church) one of seven specified times for prayer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("canonical hour" is a kind of...):

hour; time of day (clock time)

Domain category:

Church of Rome; Roman Catholic; Roman Catholic Church; Roman Church; Western Church (the Christian Church based in the Vatican and presided over by a pope and an episcopal hierarchy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "canonical hour"):

matins; morning prayer (the first canonical hour; at daybreak)

prime (the second canonical hour; about 6 a.m.)

terce; tierce (the third canonical hour; about 9 a.m.)

sext (the fourth of the seven canonical hours; about noon)

nones (the fifth of the seven canonical hours; about 3 p.m.)

evensong; vespers (the sixth of the seven canonical hours of the divine office; early evening; now often made a public service on Sundays)

complin; compline (last of the seven canonical hours just before retiring)