Watchnight

Quick meaning: Watchnight is a noun meaning (Christianity, historical) A monthly or quarterly religious service participated in by Methodists which extended past midnight.

Meaning

(Christianity, historical) A monthly or quarterly religious service participated in by Methodists which extended past midnight.

More Meanings

1. Any religious or spiritual vigil.
2. (West Africa) A night watchman.
3. (Christianity) A religious service involving a review of the past year and preparation for the year ahead participated in by Methodists and members of other Christian denominations which usually starts late on New Year's Eve and ends after midnight on New Year's Day; hence, the night that begins on December 31 and ends on January 1.

Example Sentences

Holonym: New Year's (holiday-time sense)

The first watch night services ever held in Grace Protestant Episcopal Church were but poorly attended, […]

Watchnight. December 31 This is a midnight service that summarizes the past year. In recent centuries, the Moravians and early Methodists have celebrated it as a vigil service focusing on newness, the spiritual life, and covenants.

Wesleyan Methodist Twentieth Century Celebration: Order of Watchnight Service to be Held in Every Wesleyan-Methodist Place of Worship in Great Britain on the Night of Monday, 31st December, 1900, Being the Last Night of the Nineteenth Century

Word Forms

• watchnights
• watch night
• Watch Night
• watch-night

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include nocturn, uhtsong, midweek, vespers, nones, ordinary.

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