introit

Meanings

1. A prayer, typically part of a psalm or other portion of the Bible, read or sung at the start of Mass while or immediately after the priest ascends to the altar.
2. Any piece of choral music, especially a setting of an anthem or a psalm, sung at the opening of a church service.
3. The action of entering or going in; an entrance.
4. An introduction.

Etymology

PIE word *h₁én From Late Middle English introite (“act of entering in or into, entrance; place of entrance”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman introït, introïte (“introit”), or from its etymon Latin introitus (“act of entering in or into, entrance; passage; place of entrance; (figuratively) beginning, introduction, prelude”), from introeō (“to enter, go in”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Introeō is derived from intrō (“to enter, go into”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”)) + eō (“to go”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”)).