dithyramb

dithyramb

English

Etymology

From Latin dithyrambus, from Ancient Greek διθύραμβος (dithúrambos). According to the American Heritage Dictionary, it is of non-Indo-European origin (Pre-Greek substrate), related to θρίαμβος and ἴαμβος.[1] Brandenstein also compares Sanskrit अङ्ग (aṅga, “member”).[2]

Noun

dithyramb (plural dithyrambs)

1. A choral hymn sung in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus.
2. A poem or oration in the same style.
   • 1969, Robert Conquest, “George Orwell”, in Arias from a Love Opera, and Other Poems, Macmillan, page 32,

     While those who drown a truth’s empiric part

     In dithyramb or dogma turn frenetic;

     — Than whom no writer could be less poetic

     He left this lesson for all verse, all art.

Translations

a choral hymn sung in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus

Finnish: dityrambi French: dithyrambe (fr) m Greek: Ancient: διθύραμβος m (dithúrambos)

Norwegian: dityrambe m Russian: дифира́мб (ru) m (difirámb)

a poem or oration in the same style

Finnish: dityrambi French: dithyrambe (fr) m Norwegian: Bokmål: høystemt lovsang Nynorsk: høgstemt(d) lovsong

Russian: дифира́мб (ru) m (difirámb)

References

1. “dithyramb” in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
2. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill