Definition of "hymnal" []

• A book or collection of church hymns. Also called hymnary, hymnbook. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In preparation, Higgins chants the words to ` ` Parce Domine '' from a thin hymnal titled ` ` Kyrie, '' and six choral chanters answer him with words from the chorus of the song."
• "Especially during the Antebellum period, a hymnal was a words-only volume, often published in miniature editions that could be carried to church in one's pocket."
• "Worn copies of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer rest in the pew backs, and the worshippers keep up with the flow of the Mass by juggling a hymnal, the printed order of service, and its one-page liturgical insert, which contains the canonical readings of the day."