Requiem

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Requiem \Re"qui*em\ (r?"kw?-?m;277), n. [Acc. of L. requies
     rest, the first words of the Mass being "Requiem aeternam
     dona eis, Domine," give eternal rest to them, O lord; pref.
     re- re + quies quiet. See {Quiet}, n., and cf. {Requin}.]
     1. (R.C.Ch.) A mass said or sung for the repose of a departed
        soul.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              We should profane the service of the dead
              To sing a requiem and such rest to her
              As to peace-parted souls.             --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Any grand musical composition, performed in honor of a
        deceased person.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Rest; quiet; peace. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Else had I an eternal requiem kept,
              And in the arms of peace forever slept. --Sandys.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  requiem
       n 1: a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a
            memorial to a dead person [syn: {dirge}, {coronach}, {lament},
             {threnody}]
       2: a musical setting for a Mass celebrating the dead
       3: a Mass celebrated for the dead

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  79 Moby Thesaurus words for "requiem":
     Dry Mass, Eucharistic rites, Lady Mass, Low Mass, Mass, Missa,
     Missa bassa, Missa cantata, Missa legata, Missa media,
     Missa praesanctificatorum, Missa privata, Missa publica,
     Missa sicca, Negro spiritual, Requiem Mass, Rosary, Rosary Mass,
     anthem, burial service, cantata, canticle, chorale, church music,
     coronach, dead march, death knell, death song, deathwatch, dirge,
     doxology, elegy, epicedium, eulogy, exequies, extreme unction,
     funeral march, funeral oration, funeral rites, funeral song,
     gospel, gospel music, graveside oration, hymn, hymn-tune, hymnody,
     hymnology, introit, keen, knell, last duty, last honors,
     last offices, last rites, mass, monody, motet, muffled drums,
     obsequies, offertory, offertory sentence, oratorio, paean,
     passing bell, passion, prosodion, psalm, psalmody, recessional,
     requiem mass, sacred music, spiritual, the Divine Liturgy,
     the Liturgy, threnode, threnody, viaticum, wake, white spiritual
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  REQUIEM, n.  A mass for the dead which the minor poets assure us the
  winds sing o'er the graves of their favorites.  Sometimes, by way of
  providing a varied entertainment, they sing a dirge.