Dictionary

hyperdulia en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /hʌɪpəduːˈlʌɪə/ (UK)

Etymology

From Medieval Latin hyperdūlīa, from hyper-, from Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + dūlīa, from Ancient Greek δουλείᾱ (douleíā, “slavery”), from δοῦλος (doûlos, “slave”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) A level of veneration higher than dulia but less than latria, properly given to the Virgin Mary only.
   • By the thirteenth century, the growth of devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, in both East and West led John of Damascus's admirer Thomas Aquinas to formalize a further refinement: the concept of an exceptional sort of veneration, hyperdulia, offered only to the greatest of God's creations, Mary, the mother of Jesus. 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 451:

Forms

Deriveds

hyperdulic

Relateds

dulia

Synonyms

hyperveneration