A sacred song or poem, especially one from the biblical Book of Psalms, usually used in worship.
From Greek *psalmos*, meaning 'song sung to a harp' or 'plucking of strings'. It passed through Latin and Old English into modern English while keeping its religious and musical flavor.
The silent 'p' in *psalm* is a fossil from Greek spelling, where the 'ps' sound was actually pronounced. When you see *ps-* at the start of a word, it’s often a clue the word took a long historic journey through Greek.
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