Hosanna

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Grammarist

Hosanna: 1. an interjection used as an exclamation of praise, especially of God; 2. a noun referring to an expression of fervent or worshipful praise; 3. a verb, seldom used, meaning to praise fervently.

The verb is inflected hosannaed and hosannaing. In modern English, the word is almost exclusively used in the noun sense.

As in the examples below, hosanna is usually used in the plural. The initial is sometimes capitalized—as in the Los Angeles Times example—but most publications treat it as a common noun. Hosannah is an accepted variant spelling, but it is rare.

Examples

This would-be “Fairbanks 9/11″ certainly blazes with passion—hosannas of awe for Palin, brimstone of scorn for her detractors. [New York Post]

In his moment of triumph, the roly-poly president marched to the podium accompanied by portentous music and the hosannas of his subjects. [Financial Times]

Another reason it’s time to sing their own Hosannas is that nuns don’t even get the respect they deserve from their bosses at the Vatican. [LA Times]

Brown is aware that his honeymoon will end – at some stage the critics singing hosannas will revert to the old hymn sheets preaching doom and gloom. [Mirror]