hymnody means the writing, composing, or singing of hymns or psalms. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
hymnody is pronounced /ˈhɪm.nə.di/.
Why “hymnody” is a great word
HYMNODY — [Noun] The composition, singing, or collective body of hymns, especially within a religious tradition. From Latin hymnōdia, from Ancient Greek ὑμνῳδία (humnōidía), from ὕμνος (húmnos, "song of praise") + ἀείδω (aeídō, "to sing"). Unlike a "hymnal," which is the silent, physical vessel of printed pages, or "psalmody," which is the reverent channeling of a fixed, scriptural canon, hymnody is the living, breathing river of sung faith itself. It is the ragged unison of a small weekday service, the thunderous swell of a cathedral choir, and the solitary hum in a kitchen that becomes, for a moment, a private liturgy—the sound of doctrine warming into devotion across centuries.
Etymology
From Old French hymnodie, from Latin hymnodia, from Ancient Greek ὑμνῳδία (humnōidía), from ὑμνῳδέω (humnōidéō, “to sing a hymn”), from ὕμνος (húmnos, “song of praise”) + ἀείδω (aeídō, “to sing”).
noun
- The writing, composing, or singing of hymns or psalms.“Primeval Worſhip, Lord, retrieve, / For whoſe Decays the Faithful grieve, / For as thy Temple-Off'rings fall or riſe, / Hymnody chills or fires, Religion lives or dies.”
- The hymns of a particular church or of a particular time.“Therefore do we recite this Seraphick Theology delivered to us, that in that cæleſtial Hymnody we may communicate with the Heavenly Hoſt …”