Godspell

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rock musical drama that retells the Gospel narrative through contemporary song and performance
2. An innovative stage musical that presents the life and teachings of Jesus in a modern theatrical context
3. A theatrical rock musical that dramatizes the Gospel story with songs and performances for contemporary audiences

Etymology: Old English "godspel" was built from two plain parts: "god," meaning "good," and "spel," meaning "news," "message," or "story." It translated Latin "evangelium," which came from Greek "euangelion," meaning "good news" or "good message." The English compound named the message itself before it came to mean the sacred writings that told it. Over time the spelling changed to "gospel," and speakers came to read the first element as "God." The "spel" element is related to the modern word "spell" in its sense of a set of spoken words, though that magical sense developed separately from the older "story" sense.