Anthem
a song, as of praise, devotion, or patriotism:
the national anthem of Spain; our college anthem.
a piece of sacred vocal music, usually with words taken from the Scriptures.
a hymn sung alternately by different sections of a choir or congregation.
to celebrate with or in an anthem.
Contemporary Examples
Georgia has written for publications like anthem magazine and contributes the This Recording.
Valentine’s Day Cocktail Recipes to Fall in Love With Alie Ward, Georgia Hardstark February 8, 2011
He wrote the anthem and is a composer, guitarist, poet, and front man for Electric Black.
Soundtrack to the Uprising The Daily Beast July 1, 2009
“If BMW is ‘the ultimate driving machine,’ your anthem is the ultimate differentiator,” writes Hogshead.
Can Self-Help Books Really Make a New You? Lizzie Crocker December 28, 2014
A melodic song, “We Shall Remain Here,” has been the anthem most specific to this revolution.
Libya’s Explosive Music Revolution Khaled Mattawa May 27, 2011
Vladimir Putin made it his anthem and even played it at rallies.
The Making of Brand Putin Kristen Soltis Anderson February 12, 2014
Historical Examples
The singing of the anthem after the third collect in both morning and evening prayer.
Music in the History of the Western Church Edward Dickinson
Handel’s anthem was performed by 80 singers and 100 instrumentalists.
Handel Edward J. Dent
The choir learns to chant and to sing an anthem on a high festival.
A History of the English Church in New Zealand Henry Thomas Purchas
He could hear the music of the organ, and presently the choir began to sing an anthem.
The Foolish Lovers St. John G. Ervine
Big gun and rifle fire mingled like strophe and antistrophe of an anthem of death.
How I Filmed the War Lieut. Geoffrey H. Malins
noun
a song of loyalty or devotion, as to a nation or college: a national anthem
a musical composition for a choir, usually set to words from the Bible, sung as part of a church service
a religious chant sung antiphonally
a popular rock or pop song
n.
Old English ontemn, antefn, “a composition (in prose or verse) sung antiphonally,” from Late Latin antefana, from Greek antiphona “verse response” (see antiphon). Sense evolved to “a composition set to sacred music” (late 14c.), then “song of praise or gladness” (1590s). Used in reference to the English national song (technically, as OED points out, a hymn) and extended to those of other nations. Modern spelling is from late 16c., perhaps an attempt to make the word look more Greek.
Read Also:
- Anthema
. an eruption of the skin.
- Ant hill
a mound of earth, leaves, etc., formed by a colony of ants in digging or constructing their underground nest. Historical Examples Without saying more, I merely begged him to mount upon the ant hill and look toward M’rooli. In the Heart of Africa Samuel White Baker Lads of Zuñi took my egg and hatched it […]
- Anthill
a mound of earth, leaves, etc., formed by a colony of ants in digging or constructing their underground nest. Historical Examples Tired out, half-starved and as disconsolate as the donkey in the stable, I sat myself on an anthill. My Reminiscences of the Anglo-Boer War Ben Viljoen. This large city lay in the landscape like […]
- Ant lion
any of several insects belonging to the family Myrmeleontidae, of the order Neuroptera, the larvae of which dig a pit in sand where they lie in wait to prey upon ants or other insects that lose their footing. Historical Examples It is easy to find these pit-falls of the ant lion in sand banks in […]
- Antonomasia
Rhetoric. the identification of a person by an epithet or appellative that is not the person’s name, as his lordship. the use of the name of a person who was distinguished by a particular characteristic, as Don Juan or Annie Oakley, to designate a person or group of persons having the same characteristic. Historical Examples […]