- Kyrie
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Kyr·i·e (kîrʹē-ā')
n.
1.a. A brief petition and response used in various liturgies of several Christian churches, beginning with or composed of the words “Lord, have mercy.”b. A brief petition and response that together comprise the first item of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass.2. A musical setting of either of these sets of petition and response.[Late Latin Kȳrie (eleison), from Greek Kūrie eleēson, Lord, have mercy : Kūrie, vocative of kūrios, lord, master; See keuə- in Indo-European Roots + eleēson, aorist imperative of elein, to show mercy (from eleos, mercy).]
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▪ religionthe vocative case of the Greek word kyrios (“lord”). The word Kyrie is used in the Septuagint, the earliest Greek translation of the Old Testament, to translate the Hebrew word Yahweh. In the New Testament, Kyrie is the title given to Christ, as in Philippians 2:11. As part of the Greek formula Kyrie eleison (“Lord, have mercy”), the word is used as a preliminary petition before a formal prayer and as a congregational response in the liturgies of many Christian churches.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
