dominical
/dəˈmɪnək(ə)l/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.51 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or pertaining to Jesus Christ as Lord.
adj
Of or pertaining to the ancient system of dominical letters, used for determining Sundays (particularly Easter Sunday) in any given year.
Obsolete
adj
Of or pertaining to the ancient system of dominical letters, used for determining Sundays (particularly Easter Sunday) in any given year.
Obsolete
noun
A person who keeps Sunday as a day of rest, but does not regard it as representing the Sabbath of the Old Testament of the Bible.
Example Sentences
- "The Dominical Prayer, and the Apoſtolical Creed, (vvhereof there vvas ſuch a hot diſpute in our laſt converſation) are tvvo Acts tending to the ſame object of devotion, yet they differ in this, that vve conclude all in the firſt, and ourſelves only in the ſecond, […]"
- "VVhereas 'tis clear, that Rome obſerved the firſt day of the vveek, becauſe 'tvvas the Dominical day, the day of our Lord's Reſurrection; vvhereas the proper Paſchal-day vvas tvvo or three days before the Lords day: […]"
- "[A]t the firſt Intervievv vvith Mrs. Heartfree, Mr. VVild had conceived that Paſſion, […] vvhich is indeed no other than that Friendſhip vvhich, after the Exerciſe of the Dominical Day is over, a luſty Divine is apt to conceive for the vvell-dreſt Sirloin, or handſome Buttock, vvhich the vvell-edified 'Squire, in Gratitude, ſets before him, and vvhich, ſo violent is his Love, he is deſirous to devour."
- "And vvho knovvs not the ſuperſtitious rigor of his Sundays Chapel, and the licentious remiſſneſs of his Sundays Theater; accompanied vvith that reverend Statute for Dominical Jigs and Maypoles, publiſht in his ovvn Name, and deriv'd from the example of his Father James."
- "I haue compoſde a Dictionary, in vvhich / He is inſtructed, hovv, vvhen, and to vvhom / To be proud or humble; at vvhat times of the yeare / He may do a good deed for it ſelfe, and that is / VVrit in Dominicall letters, […]"
- "[S]uch obſerved that our Fights of greateſt importance vvere fought on the Lords day, As the Fight at Edgehill, Nevvbury, &c. as pointing at our ſin in the puniſhment, and Gods vvrath vvas vvritten in Dominical letters: […]"
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English dominical (“(adjective) of or pertaining to the Lord’s day or Sunday; (noun) a book containing the liturgy for Sunday (?)”), borrowed from Medieval Latin dominicālis (“of or pertaining to Sunday, dominical”), from Latin dominicus (“of or belonging to a lord or master; (Ecclesiastical Latin) God’s, the Lord’s”) (compare diēs Dominicus (“the day of the Lord, Sunday”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). Dominicus is derived from dominus (“lord, master”) (used in Latin versions of the Bible to translate titles of the God of the Hebrew Tanakh and Greek New Testament; probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“to arrange, put together; to build (up)”)) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Adjective senses 3.1 (“of printed text: in a large size”) and 3.2 (“red, ruddy”) refer to the practice of printing dominical letters in a large size, or in red. Cognates * French dominical
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dəˈmɪnək(ə)l/
- British English: /dəˈmɪnɪk(ə)l/