responsory means containing or making answer; answering. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 86 out of 100.
responsory is pronounced /ɹɪˈspɒn.s(ə)ɹi/.
Why “responsory” is a great word
RESPONSORY — [Adjective, Noun] As an adjective: containing or making an answer. As a noun: a chant or anthem recited after a reading in a church service, or the book containing such liturgical responses. From Middle English responsorie, from Late Latin respōnsōrium, from Latin respōnsus (“answered”), from the verb respondeō (“to answer”). First attested in the late 14th to early 15th century. Unlike an "antiphon" (a shorter frame for a psalm) or a general "respond" (any answering utterance), a responsory is a formal, often ornate, dialogue with the sacred text. It is the swell of a trained choir rising to meet a solitary reader’s verse, the worn velvet marker in a heavy antiphonary, and the collective breath of a congregation shaped into a single, returning phrase—a testament that to listen, truly, is to be poised always on the edge of a reply.
adj
- Containing or making answer; answering.“that Reponsory Letter from His Majesty”
noun
- A chant or anthem recited after a reading in a church service; a respond.
- A book of liturgical responses; a responsorial.