liturgy

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Related to liturgy: Liturgy of the Hours, Anglican Liturgy

liturgy

a form of public worship; ritual; a particular arrangement of religious services

Not to be confused with:

litany – ceremonial form of prayer; prolonged or tedious account; list; enumeration

lit·ur·gy

(lĭt′ər-jē)

n. pl. lit·ur·gies

1. A prescribed form or set of forms for public religious worship.

2. often Liturgy Christianity The sacrament of the Eucharist.

[Late Latin lītūrgia, from Greek leitourgiā, public service, from leitourgos, public servant, from earlier lēitourgos : lēiton, town hall (from lēos, dialectal variant of lāos, people) + ergon, work; see werg- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

liturgy

(ˈlɪtədʒɪ)

n, pl -gies

1. (Ecclesiastical Terms) the forms of public services officially prescribed by a Church

2. (Ecclesiastical Terms) (often capital) chiefly Eastern Churches Also called: Divine Liturgy the Eucharistic celebration

3. (Ecclesiastical Terms) a particular order or form of public service laid down by a Church

[C16: via Medieval Latin, from Greek leitourgia, from leitourgos minister, from leit- people + ergon work]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lit•ur•gy

(ˈlɪt ər dʒi)

n., pl. -gies.

1. a form of public worship; ritual.

2. a collection of formularies for public worship.

3. a particular arrangement of services.

4. a particular form or type of the Eucharistic service.

5. the service of the Eucharist, esp. this service (Divine Liturgy) in the Eastern Church.

[1550–60; < Late Latin lītūrgia < Late Greek leitourgía Eucharist, Greek lēitourgía public service =lḗït(on) town hall, derivative of lāós, leṓs people (compare lay³) + -ourgia -urgy]

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Noun	1.	Liturgy - a Christian sacrament commemorating the Last Supper by consecrating bread and wine Eucharist, Eucharistic liturgy, Holy Eucharist, Holy Sacrament, Lord's Supper, sacrament of the Eucharist sacrament - a formal religious ceremony conferring a specific grace on those who receive it; the two Protestant ceremonies are baptism and the Lord's Supper; in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church there are seven traditional rites accepted as instituted by Jesus: baptism and confirmation and Holy Eucharist and penance and holy orders and matrimony and extreme unction Offertory - the part of the Eucharist when bread and wine are offered to God Communion, Holy Communion, manduction, sacramental manduction - the act of participating in the celebration of the Eucharist; "the governor took Communion with the rest of the congregation"
	2.	liturgy - a rite or body of rites prescribed for public worship religious rite, rite - an established ceremony prescribed by a religion; "the rite of baptism" Christian liturgy - the Christian worship services

liturgy

noun ceremony, service, ritual, services, celebration, formula, worship, rite, sacrament, form of worship A clergyman read the liturgy from the prayer-book.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

liturgy

noun

A formal act or set of acts prescribed by ritual:

ceremonial, ceremony, observance, office, rite, ritual, service.

Translations

liturgija

liturgia

liturgia

liturgija

liturgy

[ˈlɪtədʒɪ] N → liturgia f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

liturgy

[ˈlɪtə^rdʒi] n → liturgie f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

liturgy

n → Liturgie f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

liturgy

[ˈlɪtədʒɪ] n → liturgia

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

Wise and holy men, the fathers of our religion, have expended their labors in clearing what was revealed from the obscurities of language, and the results of their experience and researches have been em bodied in the form of evangelical discipline That this discipline must be salutary, is evident from the view of the weakness of human nature that we have already taken; and that it may be profitable to us, and all who listen to its precepts and its liturgy, may God, in his infinite wisdom, grant!—And now to,” etc.

This was by no means an intended slight of that liturgy to which the divine alluded, but was the habit of a people who owed their very existence, as a distinct nation, to the doctrinal character of their ancestors.

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There was no murdering of the noble music, contained in the Bible and the Liturgy, by its recital in a dead monotone, with no more expression than a mechanical talking-doll.

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Thus far these compositions are called Liturgical Plays, because they formed, in general, a part of the church service (liturgy).

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"Our liturgy," observed Crawford, "has beauties, which not even a careless, slovenly style of reading can destroy; but it has also redundancies and repetitions which require good reading not to be felt.

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Two years later Bunyan was again imprisoned because "in contempt of his Majesty's good laws he preached or teached in other manner than according to the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England." But this time his imprisonment lasted only six months.

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He thought the custom of baptism more important than its doctrine, and that the religious benefits the peasant drew from the church where his fathers worshipped and the sacred piece of turf where they lay buried were but slightly dependent on a clear understanding of the Liturgy or the sermon.

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A CATHEDRAL is to mark International Women's Day by the singing of a liturgy which has not been heard in public for almost 600 years.

Cathedral choir to sing liturgy unheard for 600 years

The Liturgy of the Nails is the work of Constanza of Castile (1354-1394) who was the Abbess of the Royal Dominican Convent in Madrid.

Medieval voices echo throughout history; a liturgy will be performed to mark women's day

Sloyan never forgot that "the dimensions of the liturgy are about the shaping of people to serve the world, not just to have a beautiful service or a good time," said Gabe Huck, who worked with Sloyan in the Liturgical Conference of Washington.

Virginia Sloyan, 'heart and soul' of Liturgical Conference, dies at 87

Liturgy and Ethics: New Contributions From Reformed Perspectives

The Council Fathers proposed the principle of "organic growth" (2) to describe the historical process of liturgical change and to outline their expectations for how liturgical change would occur following Sacrosanctum concilium's call to revise and update the liturgy. (3) Despite its lack of official definition, this principle has served as a chief measure for determining the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the postconciliar liturgical reforms.

From organic growth to liturgico-plasticity: reconceptualizing the process of liturgical reform

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