Benedictus

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A canticle that begins Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel ("Blessed be the Lord God of Israel”).
2. n. A canticle that begins Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini ("Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”) that forms the end of the Sanctus in the Roman Catholic Mass.
3. n. A musical setting for either of these canticles.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The short canticle or hymn, also distinctively called the Benedictus qui venit, beginning in Latin “Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini,” and in English “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord,” preceded and followed by “Hosanna in Excelsis,” that is, “Hosanna in the highest,” which is usually appended in the Roman Catholic mass to the Sanetus, from Psalm cxviii. 26, Luke xix. 38, etc. The Benedictus qui venit was retained in the Prayer-Book of 1549, and is sung in some Anglican churches at choral or solemn celebrations of the holy communion, just before the prayer of consecration.
2. n. A musical setting of this canticle, forming a separate movement in a mass.
3. n. The canticle or hymn beginning in Latin “Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel,” and in English “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel”; the song of Zacharias, Luke i. 68–71. In the English Prayer-Book it is the canticle following the second lesson with the Jubilate as its alternate. In the American Prayer-Book only the first four verses are given: alterations made in 1886 direct the use of the whole canticle on Sundays in Advent, but permit the omission at other times of the portion following the fourth verse.
4. n. A musical setting of this canticle.

Wiktionary

1. n. music Either of two canticles that begin with the Latin word benedictus
2. n. music The music that accompanies these canticles

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The song of Zacharias at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke i. 68); -- so named from the first word of the Latin version.