Kyrie

Kyr·i·e

 (kîr′ē-ā′)

n.

1. A brief responsive prayer used as the first item in the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass or in any of various other Christian liturgies, traditionally beginning with the Greek words Kyrie eleison ("Lord, have mercy").

2. A musical setting of this prayer.

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[Late Latin Kȳrie (eleison), from Greek Kūrie eleēson, Lord, have mercy : Kūrie, vocative of kūrios, lord, master; see keuə- in Indo-European roots + eleēson, aorist imperative of elein, to show mercy (from eleos, mercy).]

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