Word.ws English Dictionary

euouae

Syllables: eu·ou·ae/juːˈuː.iː/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British[jʉw.ˈʉw.ɪj]

euouae noun: in medieval music, a mnemonic for the Latin words saeculōrum and āmēn (from “ […] in saecula saeculōrum. Āmēn.” from the Gloria Patri doxology), used in liturgical works to indicate how the words should be sung with various cadences.

euouae: in medieval music, a mnemonic for the Latin words saeculōrum and āmēn (from “ […] in saecula...
Image: Glenfarclas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

euouae (plural not attested)

  1. (no plural) In medieval music, a mnemonic for the Latin words saeculōrum and āmēn (from “ […] in saecula saeculōrum. Āmēn.” from the Gloria Patri doxology), used in liturgical works to indicate how the words should be sung with various cadences.
    • In the publicke ſervice of the Romiſh Maſſe there are words truly ridiculous, and which never were other then worthleſſe, as Evovae, Miſerere nobis, & Stabat mater doloroſa, and many the like, which nevertheleſſe in the Church of Rome are not ridiculous, becauſe they are authoriſed by the divine...[1630, Peter du Moulin, “An Examination of Our Adversaries Reasons: Especially of Those of Mounsieur the Cardinal du Perron”, in Richard Baylie, transl., The Antibarbarian: Or, A Treatise Concerning...
    • The above characters exhibit the eſſential parts of each of the tones, that is to ſay, the beginning, the meditation, and the cloſe, which is generally contained in the Euouae, […] [W]henever it [the word Euouae] occurs, as it does almoſt in every page of the antiphonary, [it] is meant as a...1776, John Hawkins, chapter IX, in A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Payne and Son, […], →OCLC, book III, page 358
  2. (broadly, no plural) A cadence used to sing those words of the Gloria Patri.
    • The euouae, initials, and finials of all the modes, are given in this kind of notation very amply, and always on five lines, and ſpaces.1819, Abraham Rees, “ODINGTON, Walter”, in The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature. […], volume XXV, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, […] [et al.]...
    • The evovae, commences always upon the dominant of the key, and terminates upon the tonic.1825, J[ohn] F[eltham] Danneley, “EVOVAE, or EUOUAE”, in An Encyclopædia, or Dictionary of Music; […], London: […] [F]or the Editor, […] by Preston, […], →OCLC

Forms of euouae

alternative formevovae

Origin of euouae

From the vowels in the last two words of the final phrase of the Gloria Patri doxology in Latin: “[…] in saecula saeculōrum. Āmēn.” (literally “[…] into ages of ages (for ever and ever). Amen.”). In liturgical works used in Gregorian chant, instead of repeating the words, the letters were printed under musical notes to indicate how the syllables of the words should be sung in different melodies.

Questions about euouae

What does euouae mean?
Euouae means in medieval music, a mnemonic for the Latin words saeculōrum and āmēn (from “ […] in saecula saeculōrum. Āmēn.” from the Gloria Patri doxology), used in liturgical works to indicate how the words should be sung with various cadences.
What part of speech is euouae?
Euouae is a noun.
How do you pronounce euouae?
Euouae is pronounced /juːˈuː.iː/ (UK).

Words near euouae in the dictionary

  1. euornithine
  2. euornithopod
  3. euornithopods
  4. euosmia
  5. euosmite
  6. euouae
  7. euoxic
  8. eupad
  9. eupahyssopin
  10. Euparal
  11. euparathyroid

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: euouae (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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