lectionary
lectionary
Late Latin
“Surprise: lectionary was a book of chosen readings.”
Late Latin lectionarium meant a book of readings. The base is lectus, the past participle of legere, "to read." This is the same verb that lies behind lecture and legible. The Christian term marks readings appointed for worship.
The Latin noun lectionarium appears in church inventories by the 5th century. Jerome died in 420, and his Vulgate helped fix the notion of set readings. In the 6th century, Gregory the Great's reforms in Rome reinforced fixed lections. The word fits the developing liturgical calendar.
Medieval Latin passed the term into Old French as lectionaire. English adopted lectionary in the 15th century. Printed lectionaries expanded after the 1549 Book of Common Prayer in England. The spelling stabilized in modern English.
The word kept its church sense, naming the book or schedule of readings. It later broadened to cover schedules without a book. The form stayed close to its Latin source. The "lecture" family preserves the same root.
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Today
A lectionary is a book or schedule of scripture readings arranged for worship across the year. It also names the cycle itself, even when no physical book is used.
In modern usage it signals selection, order, and public reading in a liturgical setting. A plan for what is read aloud defines the term. Read, and remember.
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