Definition of "versicle" []

• A short verse. (noun)
• A short sentence spoken or chanted by a priest and followed by a response from the congregation. (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.

• "Moreover, he served the Brothers humbly in his office of sacristan for nearly four years, and so that versicle which is sung for confessors was apt and fitting for him "who was ever pious and prudent, lowly and modest, sober and chaste and peaceful so long as this present life endured in his bodily limbs.""
• "The eighth is the identical in text, but not in music, to the Introit of the feast of the Holy Trinity, and has a different versicle accompanying it; the last of these nine is the famous “Ubi caritas.”"
• "The Hour of Matins is divided into three nocturns, as on the greater feasts, each of which consists of three psalms with their antiphons, a versicle, and three readings with their responsories."