hyperdulia
nounUK /hʌɪpəduːˈlʌɪə/
Etymology From Medieval Latin hyperdūlīa, from hyper-, from Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + dūlīa, from Ancient Greek δουλείᾱ (douleíā, “slavery”), from δοῦλος (doûlos, “slave”).
1
Catholicism, Christianity, Roman Catholicism 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:
- Derived terms
- hyperdulic
- Related terms
- dulia