matins

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“
And so she thanked her kind friends for their attention, and sank back on her pillow and closed her eyes, as if she would go to sleep The sisters promised to bring the mother abbess to her bedside as soon as the matins should be over.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun Ecclesiastical The office that formerly constituted together with lauds the first of the seven canonical hours.
  2. noun The time of day appointed for this service, traditionally midnight or 2 A.M. but often sunrise.
  3. noun See Morning Prayer.

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Examples (50)

  • When we walked to the Easter matins, the night was humid, heavy clouds covered the sky, and walking through the dark alleys of the linden park, I imagined a motion in the ground, as if innumerable invisible plants were pushing through the earth toward air and light. —  WordPress.com News
  • Normally this means twice-daily services during weekdays in non-fasting seasons -- matins and vespers -- and thrice-daily services during weekdays in fasting seasons -- matins, vespers, and compline. —  News from SVOTS.Edu
  • Every Sunday morning Agnes was required to wait upon her liege lady to matins--that piece of piety lasting for the week: and three times in the year, without the faintest consideration of her feelings--always terribly outraged thereby--poor Agnes was dragged before the tribunal of the family confessor, and required to give a list of her sins since the last occasion. —  For the Master's Sake A Story of the Days of Queen Mary
  • It was not difficult to attend evensong as well as matins, and that every day instead of once in the week; the drama performed in the Cathedral was very pretty, the music pleasant to hear, the scent of the incense agreeable. —  For the Master's Sake A Story of the Days of Queen Mary
  • 'I will take it upon myself to promise that our chaplain shall be waiting to-morrow morning after matins, and that the bride shall be ready in the sacristy. —  Stradella
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Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English matines, from Old French, from Medieval Latin (vigiliae) mātūtīnae, morning (vigils), feminine pl. of Latin mātūtīnus, of the morning, from Mātūta, goddess of dawn; see mā-1 in Indo-European roots.
 

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