Kyrie eleison: Meaning and Definition of

Kyr•i•e e•le•i•son

Pronunciation: (Rom. Cath. Ch.,Anglican Ch.kēr'ē-ā" e-lā'u-sôn", -son", -sunGk. Orth. Ch.kē'rē-e e-le'ē-sôn), [key]
  1. (italics) the brief petition “Lord, have mercy,” used in various offices of the Greek Orthodox Church and of the Roman Catholic Church.
  2. the brief response or petition in services in the Anglican Church, beginning with the words, “Lord, have mercy upon us.”
  3. Also calleda musical setting of either of these.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.