compline means the last of the canonical hours, sung just before retiring to bed. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
compline is pronounced /ˈkɒmplɪn/.
Why “compline” is a great word
The final canonical hour of the daily Christian cycle of prayer, observed at the close of the day immediately before sleep. Its name derives from the Latin *completa hora*, literally 'finished hour,' tracing through Old French *complice* and Middle English *compelin* and *cumplie*. Unlike vespers, the communal prayer of the fading evening light, or matins, the vigil of early morning anticipation, compline is the liturgy of relinquishment, the day’s quiet terminus. It is the scent of cooling wax after the last candle is snuffed, the hushed harmony of a plainsong hymn in a darkening chapel, and the weight of a well-worn breviary closed for the night—a formal surrender of the conscious world to the mercy of the unseen.
Etymology
From Middle English compelin, cumplie, from Old French complie, from Latin complēta (hōra) (literally “finished hour”).
noun
- The last of the canonical hours, sung just before retiring to bed.