kontakion

Borrowed from Byzantine Greek κοντάκιον (kontákion).

kontakion (plural kontakia)

1. (Eastern Orthodoxy) A form of hymn or poem recited as a dialogue between a chanter and the choir.
   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 454:

     The liturgical form of hymn which replaced the kontakion was the canon, a set of nine hymns.

   • 1988, Milorad Pavić, translated by Christina Pribićević-Zorić, Dictionary of the Khazars, Vintage, published 1989, page 31:

     When awakened, Kyr Avram sits in bed and, as if out of fear, sings troparia and contakia in honor of his ancestors, when the Serbian church has declared saints.

• contakion