# psalm

/ˈsɑɫm/ (US) · /sˈɑːm/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/psalm
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. religious song or poem

noun · CEFR B2

a holy song or poem used to praise God, especially one from the Bible.

For teachers: a sacred song or lyrical poem used in divine worship, specifically referring to the compositions in the Old Testament Book of Psalms.

- The choir sang a beautiful psalm during the Sunday morning service.
- The congregation stood in silence as the cantor began to recite a well-known psalm of lamentation from the Hebrew Bible.

### 2. to sing praise

verb · CEFR C2 · Literary · Archaic

to sing or celebrate something using holy songs.

For teachers: to extol or celebrate in psalms; to perform sacred music through singing.

- The ancient texts describe how the people would psalm their thanks after the harvest.
- In the epic poem, the protagonist is depicted psalming his devotion to the heavens amidst the ruins of the temple.

Usage: This verb is rare in modern speech and is almost exclusively found in older religious texts.

## Examples

- The choir sang a beautiful psalm during the service.
- The congregation stood together to recite a psalm of thanksgiving during the morning ceremony.
- Scholars of ancient literature often analyze the rhythmic structures of the psalms to understand how they were originally performed in a musical context.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.