What does lection mean?
A lection is a particular reading, version, or selection of a text. In the study of manuscripts and historical editions, the term refers to a form of a passage that differs from another recorded version, often because a scribe copied, omitted, or altered words. Such evidence can help editors reconstruct the earlier or most authoritative text. In Christian liturgical contexts, a lection is a scripture passage selected for reading on a particular occasion, and related readings form part of a lectionary. The word is more common in scholarly and historical writing than in everyday speech, where “reading” or “version” will usually be clearer. Its chief modern value lies in textual scholarship: it gives a precise name to the surviving variants through which texts change, develop, and reveal their transmission histories.
nounA reading or version of a text, especially a variant reading preserved in different manuscripts or editions. In ecclesiastical use, a lection is a passage or set of passages selected for reading during a particular service.
- A particular reading or version of a text, especially one that differs from the reading found in another manuscript or edition.
- A passage or set of passages selected from scripture for reading during a church service.
"The editor compared the two lections of the passage to determine which reading was original."
"A previously unknown lection of the poem appeared in the newly discovered manuscript."
"The second lection of the service described the history of the church."
The plural is used when referring to multiple textual variants, readings, or service passages.
"The editor compared the manuscript's lections with those in the printed edition."
In textual scholarship, a lection is not merely a reading: it is evidence that the same text may have taken different forms as it passed through history.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lection come from?
Lection derives from Latin lectio, meaning “a reading” or “a selecting,” from the verb legere, “to gather, collect, or read.” The same Latin root produced English words such as legible, lecture, legend, and election. In English, lection developed both into a specialist term for a textual variant and into an ecclesiastical term for a prescribed scripture reading.
How lection is actually used
The word is relatively uncommon outside specialist writing on textual criticism, manuscript studies, and the history of the Christian liturgy. In modern editions, the usual term for a variant form of a text is simply a “reading” or “textual variant.”
Easily confused with lection
A lection is a reading or version of a text, whereas a lecture is a spoken presentation or an extended explanation on a subject.