▪ I. processional, n.
(prəʊˈsɛʃənəl)
[= F. processional (1563 in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. med.L. prōcessiōnāle, neut. of prōcessiōnālis adj.: see next.]
1. Eccl. An office-book containing litanies, hymns, etc., for use in religious processions.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 605/8 Processionale, a processional. 1537 in Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's Bp. Stortford (1882) 127 Item v processionals in paper and ij parchement masbooks. 1549 Act 3 & 4 Edw. VI, c. 10 §1 All Books called..Grailes, Processionals,..Pies..shall be..abolished. 1571 Grindal Injunctions B iv, That the Churchwardens and Minister shall see, that..Processionals..be vtterly defaced, rent, and abolished. a 1646 J. Gregory Posthuma (1650) 96 A Circumstance of the Chapter directed mee to their Processional. 1846 W. Maskell Mon. Rit. I. p. cxiii, The printed Processionals of Sarum or York Use would, in one important respect, vary from the earlier MSS. |
b. A processional hymn: see the adj.
| 1884 Pall Mall G. 24 June, The 48th Psalm was sung as a processional. 1896 H. Housman John Ellerton iv. 71 It was for this book that Mr. Ellerton wrote his spirited processional: ‘Onward, brothers, onward!’ 1898 Westm. Gaz. 8 Mar. 6/2 The processional was ‘Blessed City, Heavenly Salem’. |
¶ 2. (erron.) A procession.
| 1882–3 Schaff's Encycl. Relig. Knowl. II. 1324 Pelagius I. in 555, after the litany was said in a certain church in Rome, had a processional from there to St. Peter's. 1902 Munsey's Mag. XXVI. 621 By some strange chance I stood where streams The long processional of dreams. |
▪ II. proˈcessional, a.
[= OF. processional (1472 in Godef. Compl., mod.F. -ionnel), ad. med.L. prōcessiōnāl-is (p. crux, Ademar a 1030): see procession n. and -al1.]
a. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a procession; characterized by processions. Of a hymn, psalm, litany, etc.: sung or recited in procession, e.g. by the clergy and choir in proceeding from the vestry to the chancel at the opening of a service: cf. recessional.
| 1611 Cotgr., Processional, processionall; belonging to, seruing for, a procession. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Processional, pertaining to process or proceeding. 1686 J. S[ergeant] Hist. Monast. Convent. 184 This done, he was carried in the usual processional manner, to the Benediction Hall. 1827 Gentl. Mag. XCVII. ii. 14 His immediate successor, Cardinal Henry, had the same processional taste. 1830 Chalmers in Hanna Mem. (1851) III. xiv. 280 We entered in processional order. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile vii. 186 The ceremonial of Egyptian worship was essentially processional. |
b. Used or carried in processions. Also, traversed by a procession or processions.
| 1846 Landor Imag. Conv., Alfieri & Salomon Wks. I. 191/1 The Cristo Bianco and Cristo Nero of the Neapolitan rabble..two processional idols,..which are regularly carried home with broken heads. 1859 Jephson Brittany xvi. 271 After Vespers the choir, preceded by a processional cross, walked down the nave. 1895 B. M. Croker Village Tales (1896) 80 The great processional elephant..had a superb cloth-of-gold canopy. 1906 H. Begbie Priest viii. 124 The sound of a heavy step approaching from the processional aisle on the south caught her ear. 1942 Country Life 9 Oct. 695/1 (caption) Processional way to Buckingham Palace from Victoria Station. 1973 Times 15 Oct. 4 Thieves broke into St Albans Abbey, Hertfordshire, on Saturday night and stole..the silver gilt top of a processional cross. |
c. Walking or going in procession; forming a procession (lit. and fig.); humorously, forming a long series or ‘string’ (e.g. of words). processional caterpillar: see processionary a. 2.
| 1855 Browning Fra Lippo 118 Which gentleman processional and fine, Holding a candle to the Sacrament, Will wink and let him lift a plate and catch The droppings of the wax to sell again. 1861 L. L. Noble Icebergs 175 Long processional lines of broken ice. 1891 Pall Mall G. 28 Dec. 6/1 Processional caterpillars, ants of various sizes and sorts, mantises, mason bees, carpenter bees, and such small fry. 1905 J. Orr Problem O.T. vii. 206 These processional Js and Es, however, should not be scoffed at as arbitrary. |