Definition of "kontakion"

The liturgical form of hymn which replaced the kontakion was the canon, a set of nine hymns.

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 454

When awakened, Kyr Avram sits in bed and, as if out of fear, sings troparia and contakia in honor of his ancestors, when the Serbian church has declared saints.

1988, Milorad Pavić, translated by Christina Pribićević-Zorić, Dictionary of the Khazars, Vintage, published 1989, page 31