Definition of requiem Requiem

/ɹɛˈkwiʌm/ - [rekweeum] - req•ui•em

We found 12 definitions of requiem from 5 different sources.

What does requiem mean?

WordNet

Noun
requiem - a Mass celebrated for the dead
		mass (Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Churches) the celebration of the Eucharist
requiem - a musical setting for a Mass celebrating the dead
		mass (Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Churches) the celebration of the Eucharist
requiem - a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person
		dirge, coronach, lament, threnody
		vocal, song the act of singing; "with a shout and a song they marched up to the gates"

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Wiktionary

requiem (Noun)
A mass especially Catholic to honor and remember a dead person.
requiem (Noun)
A musical composition for such a mass.
requiem (Noun)
A piece of music composed to honor a dead person.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

requiem (n.)
A mass said or sung for the repose of a departed soul.
requiem (n.)
Any grand musical composition, performed in honor of a deceased person.
requiem (n.)
Rest; quiet; peace.

Wikipedia

A Requiem (or Requiem Mass) is a eucharist service in the Roman Catholic church to remember someone who has died. There are special words for a requiem mass. They are in Latin. The best-known part of the requiem mass starts with the words “Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine” (“Give them eternal rest, O Lord”). This is why it is called a “requiem”.

Many composers throughout the centuries have composed music to these words. The word “requiem” can mean a piece of music which sets the words of the requiem mass.

Celebration of the eucharist in honour of people who have died goes back at least as far as the 2nd century.

In the Middle Ages the words of the requiem mass were sung to Gregorian chant.

In the Renaissance church music was generally polyphonic. This sort of music, which has several voices weaving in and out of one another, is the kind of music used at the time for requiems. The composer Johannes Ockeghem is an example of a composer who wrote such music.

Polyphonic settings of the requiem continued during the Baroque period (17th and early 18th centuries), even although other musical forms (e.g. opera) had developed a much more modern style.

The most famous Requiem from the 18th century is the one by Mozart. Many musicians think it was one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. It was left unfinished when Mozart died.

In the 19th century many composers wrote requiems. Most of these were written for performance at concerts, not for church services, but they still used
Mozart
The Requiem Mass in D minor K626 is a famous piece of music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which he composed in 1791. This requiem (a 'requiem' is a mass (church service) to remember people who have died), was Mozart's last composition. He wrote it as he lay dying himself. It seems that he did not manage to finish it before he died, and that it was finished by another musician called Franz Xaver Süssmayr. We do not know exactly how much of the music is by Mozart, and how much Süssmayr had to add. There have been lots of stories and ideas about how the Requiem was composed, and it is still a problem that is often discussed by musicians.