[From the opening words of the Latin original, Te Deum laudamus, ‘Thee, God, we praise.’] An ancient Latin hymn of praise in the form of a psalm, sung as a thanksgiving on special occasions, as after a victory or deliverance; also regularly at Matins in the R. C. Ch., and (in an English translation) at Morning Prayer in the Church of England.
c. 961. Æthelwold, Rule St. Benet, xi (1885), 35. Æfter þæm glorian þæs feorþan repses beginne se abbod þæne lofsang Te deum laudamus. [So in c. 1200 Wintency Rule St. Benet, xi. 47.]
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sompn. T., 158. Te deum was oure song and no thyng elles.
c. 1485. Digby Myst., III. 2140. Te Deum lavdamus lett vs syng.
1547–8. Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 387. Item, for iiij songe bokes of te deum in Englisshe … viij d.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., IV. i. 92. The Quire With all the choysest Musicke of the Kingdome Together sung Te Deum.
1822. Byron, Werner, V. i. 94. ‘Te Deum’ peal’d from nations.
1896. C. K. Paul, trans. Huysman’s En Route, viii. 107. Standing, he intoned the ‘Te Deum.’
b. With a and in pl. Te Deums, in reference to a recital of this, or (allusively) to any public utterance of praise to God; also, a service of (public) thanksgiving marked by the singing of this hymn.
1679. Shadwell, True Widow, I. 3. At home they are alwayes roaring out Te Deums for Stealing of some Town or other.
1771. Lond. Gaz., No. 4794/3. Letters from France begin to own that their Te Deum cost them extreamly dear.
1903. Morley, Gladstone, I. IV. x. 615. The archbishop ordered a Te Deum. Neither te-deums nor prayers melted the heart of the British cabinet.
c. A musical setting of this hymn.
1864. [Jackson’s Te Deum regularly used in church services.]
1880. W. H. Husk, in Grove’s Dict. Mus., I. 625/1. In addition to the before-named compositions, Greene produced a Te Deum in D major, with orchestral accompaniments.
d. attrib. and Comb.
1874. Ruskin, Fors Clav., xlv. (1896), II. 419. Te-Deum-singing Princes.
1896. Daily News, 4 Aug., 3/7. A Te Deum mass in celebration of the birthday of the Empress Dowager of Russia took place yesterday at the Orthodox Church in the Rue Daru in Paris.
Hence Te-Deuming (nonce-wd.), the singing of a Te Deum or Te Deums.
1862. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., XIII. vii. (1873), V. 82. With much processioning, blaring and te-deum-ing. Ibid. (1864), XV. i. V. 270. Te-deum-ing on an extensive scale.
