What is "pericope"

Pericope \Pe*ric"o*pe\, n. [L., section of a book, Gr. ?; ? around + ? to cut.] A selection or extract from a book; especially (Theol.), a selection from the Bible, appointed to be read in the churches or used as a text for a sermon.

1650s, from Late Latin pericope "section of a book," from Greek perikope "a section" of a book, literally "a cutting all round," from peri- "around" (see peri-) + kope "a cutting" (see hatchet).

n. 1 (context rhetoric English) A section of text forming a coherent thought, suitable for use in a speech. 2 A passage of Scripture to be read in public worship or a book containing such passages.

A pericope (; Greek , "a cutting-out") in rhetoric is a set of verses that forms one coherent unit or thought, suitable for public reading from a text, now usually of sacred scripture.

Manuscripts—often illuminated—called pericopes, are normally evangeliaries, that is, abbreviated Gospel Books only containing the sections of the Gospels required for the Masses of the liturgical year. Notable examples, both Ottonian, are the Pericopes of Henry II and the Salzburg Pericopes.

Lectionaries are normally made up of pericopes containing the Epistle and Gospel readings for the liturgical year. A pericope consisting of passages from different parts of a single book, or from different books of the Bible, and linked together into a single reading is called a concatenation or composite reading.