canonical hours
Preserved but no longer current.
The different parts of the Divine Office which follow and are named after the hours of the day. They are seven — viz. matins, prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline, Prime, tierce, sext, and nones are the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours of the day, counting from six in the morning. Compline is a corruption of completorium (that which completes the services of the day).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “canonical hours” mean?
The different parts of the Divine Office which follow and are named after the hours of the day. They are seven — viz. matins, prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline, Prime, tierce, sext, and nones are the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours of the day, counting from six in the morning. Compline is a corruption of completorium (that which completes the services of the day).
Is “canonical hours” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.