The English word dirge is derived from the LatinDirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam ("Direct my way in your sight, O Lord my God"), the first words of the first antiphon (a short chant in Christian liturgy) in the Matins of the Office for the Dead, based on Psalm 5. The original meaning of dirge in English referred to this office, particularly as it appeared within breviaries and primer prayer books.[6][7]: 71 [8]
^Kennedy, Michael; Kennedy, Joyce Bourne (2007–2013). "nenia". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023.
^Pullan, Leighton (1901). Newbolt, W.C.E; Stone, Darwell (eds.). The History of the Book of Common Prayer. The Oxford Library of Practical Theology (3rd ed.). London: Longmans, Green, and Co.