A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Canticle
CANTICLE is the name now generally given to certain hymns taken from the Bible, and sung in the services of the different churches of Christendom: such as the Benedictus, the Benedicite, the Magnificat, and the Nunc Dimittis. In the Prayer-Book the word is used for the Benedicite only. The word is derived from the Latin cantictum, the term applied in the Vulgate to the Song of Moses, the Song of Solomon, many of the psalms, etc., etc. In the Calendar of the Prayer-Book the Song of Solomon is entitled 'The Canticles,' but in common parlance the above is the meaning of the term.
[ C. H. H. P. ]