From the Greek word, hymnos, meaning "song of praise " A hymn is a poem or other metrical composition adapted for singing in a church service Hymns have only been allowed in the Anglican Church since 1820
a poem praising God or other divine being or place, often sung E g , Sabine Baring-Gould, John Henry Newman, Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, and John Wesley
A religious song consisting of one or more repeating rhythmical stanzas In classical Roman literature, hymns to Minerva and Jupiter survive More recently a vast number of hymns exist in Catholic and Protestant religious lyrics A particularly vibrant tradition of hymn-writing comes from the South's African-American population during the nineteenth century
A chant consisting of stanzas of 4 or 6 lines which fall into a definite metric pattern so that the same melody repeats every stanza The first great hymns in the now-typified tradition were written by St Ambrose and St Gregory the Great Rarely sung in connexion with the Liturgy except during Great Week
An ode or song of praise or adoration; especially, a religious ode, a sacred lyric; a song of praise or thanksgiving intended to be used in religious service; as, the Homeric hymns; Watts' hymns
If you describe a film, book, or speech as a hymn to something, you mean that it praises or celebrates that thing. a hymn to freedom and rebellion. Song used in Christian worship, usually sung by the congregation and written in stanzas with rhyme and metre. The term comes from the Greek hymnos ("song of praise"), but songs in honour of God or the gods exist in all civilizations. Christian hymnody grew out of the singing of psalms in the Temple of Jerusalem. The earliest known Christian hymn dates from AD 200. Hymns were prominent in the Byzantine liturgy from early times, and in the Western church they were sung by congregations until the Middle Ages, when choirs took over hymn singing. Congregational singing was reestablished during the Reformation. Martin Luther and his followers were great hymn writers, while the Calvinists preferred setting psalms to music. The compositions of Isaac Watts and John Wesley were notable in English hymnody. The Counter-Reformation led to the composition of many Roman Catholic hymns, and the Roman Catholic church restored congregational singing of hymns after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s
Technically, a hymn is a song in which the singers praise, worship, or thank God However, many church songs that are called hymns today are not directed to God at all, but to the congregation (as a testimony), to newcomers (as an invitation), or the congregation even sings to itself (as self-congratulation)
'A song of praise to God' Usually sung with the congregation There are many hymnals (books of hymns), such as 'Ancient and Modern (revised)', 'English Hymnal', etc