recessional

[ ri-sesh-uh-nl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

a hymn or other piece of music played at the end of a service while the congregation is filing out.

recessional

/ rɪˈsɛʃənəl /

a hymn sung as the clergy and choir withdraw from the chancel at the conclusion of a church service

First recorded in 1865–70; recession ¹ + -al ¹

The very next year The Recessional stirred the religious consciousness of the whole English-speaking race.

A backward glance now and then showed that she was not watching the recessional as closely as she was listening to him.

In the meantime, the recessional frenzy extended all over the State, and every bank was obliged to close its doors.

Both literatures have the sanctuary hymn, and the processional and the recessional hymn.

Surely nothing could be more appropriate for Americans to sing at the present time than the Recessional.

April 23, 2024inveterate

[in-vet-er-it ]

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