compline

[ kom-plin, -plahyn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Ecclesiastical.

the last of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it, originally occurring after the evening meal but now usually following immediately upon vespers.

compline

/ ˈkɒmplɪn; ˈkɒmplɪn; -plaɪn /

noun

RC Church the last of the seven canonical hours of the divine office

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Word History and Origins

Origin of compline¹

1175–1225; Middle English comp ( e ) lin, equivalent to compli, cump ( e ) lie (< Old French complie, cumplie < Latin complēta ( hōra ) complete (hour) + -in (of matin )

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Word History and Origins

Origin of compline¹

C13: from Old French complie, from Medieval Latin hōra complēta, literally: the completed hour, from Latin complēre to fill up, complete

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Example Sentences

I have also, for example, gathered over Zoom with friends for compline, a nighttime prayer with roots in the medieval monastic tradition.

From New York Times

He is no longer strong enough, he said, to regularly attend the first or last of Mepkin’s seven daily prayer services — vigils at 3:20 a.m., and compline at 7:35 p.m.

From New York Times

As I stared at it, the bells in its square steeple rang the hour of compline.

From Literature

The ancient service of compline, chanted in the beauty and warmth of candlelight by the St. John’s Choir, will be directed by organist and choirmaster Samuel Carabetta.

From Washington Post

In the end, my longing for evensong was satisfied by the twilit encore, Gustav Holst’s setting of the “Nunc Dimittis,” the Latin canticle for the nighttime service of compline.

From Washington Post

complimentary close complot

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