Meaning & use
Kyrie
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Meanings
nouncountablereligion
A short prayer or sung response in Christian worship that begins with the Greek words for 'Lord, have mercy'.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a Kyrie' or 'three Kyries' when talking about separate prayers or settings.
Patterns
- sing the Kyrie
- the Kyrie in a Mass
The choir sang the Kyrie at the start of the service.
In many churches, the Kyrie is said or sung near the beginning of the liturgy.
The congregation stood for the Kyrie and then sat down for the readings.
nouncountablemusic
A musical setting of this prayer, especially as the first main movement of a Mass.
Grammar: Countable when referring to a particular composer's setting: 'Bach's Kyrie' or 'a Kyrie by Palestrina'.
Patterns
- Bach's Kyrie
- the Kyrie from a Mass
The concert opened with a Kyrie by William Byrd.
She is studying the Kyrie from Bach's Mass in B minor.
The Kyrie is often the first movement of a choral Mass.
Word forms
| plural | Kyries |
|---|
Common combinations
- sing the Kyrie
- The choir will sing the Kyrie in Greek.
- the Kyrie eleison
- The priest began with the Kyrie eleison.
- a setting of the Kyrie
- This is a modern setting of the Kyrie.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Lord, have mercy
- The English translation of the prayer; use it when you want to explain the meaning rather than the traditional name.
Word family
- Kyrie eleison phrase
- The full Greek phrase, often used as the name of the prayer.
Commonly confused: Kyrie or kyrie?
Kyrie vs kyrie
Without a capital letter, 'kyrie' is sometimes used in fantasy games as a name for a magical phrase; the religious term is usually capitalized.
Practice
In a church service, what is the Kyrie?
Choose one answer.
The Kyrie is a prayer or sung response that asks for mercy, usually near the beginning of the service. Option 0 is wrong because it describes a hymn of praise, not a plea for mercy; option 2 is a reading, and option 3 is a blessing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Kyrie”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.