1. [n]  a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)
2. [v]  praise by singing a hymn; "They hymned their love of God"
3. [v]  sing a hymn

Hymn
Hymn

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1. \Hymn\, n. [OE. hympne, ympne, F. hymne, OF. also ymne, L.
   hymnus, Gr. ?; perh. akin to ? web, ? to weave, and so to E.
   weave.]
   An ode or song of praise or adoration; especially, a
   religious ode, a sacred lyric; a song of praise or
   thankgiving intended to be used in religious service; as, the
   Homeric hymns; Watts' hymns.
         Admonishing one another in psalms and hymns. --Col.
                                                  iii. 16.
         Where angels first should practice hymns, and string
         Their tuneful harps.                     --Dryden.
   {Hymn book}, a book containing a collection of hymns, as for
      use in churches; a hymnal.
   

2. \Hymn\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Hymned}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Hymning}.] [Cf. L. hymnire, Gr. ?.]
   To praise in song; to worship or extol by singing hymns; to
   sing.
         To hymn the bright of the Lord.          --Keble.
         Their praise is hymned by loftier harps than mine.
                                                  --Byron.
   

3. \Hymn\, v. i.
   To sing in praise or adoration. --Milton.
   

occurs only Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16. The verb to "sing an hymn" occurs Matt. 26:30 and Mark 14:26. The same Greek word is rendered to "sing praises" Acts 16:25 (R.V., "sing hymns") and Heb. 2:12. The "hymn" which our Lord sang with his disciples at the last Supper is generally supposed to have been the latter part of the Hallel, comprehending Ps. 113-118. It was thus a name given to a number of psalms taken together and forming a devotional exercise.

The noun hymn is used only with reference to the services of the Greeks, and was distinguished from the psalm. The Greek tunes required Greek hymns. Our information regarding the hymnology of the early Christians is very limited.