Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The Muse of sacred song and oratory.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Greek antiquity, the Muse of the sublime hymn, and of the faculty of learning and remembering: according to some poets, inventor of the lyre, and considered during the final centuries of the Roman empire as the patroness of mimes and pantomimes. In art she is usually represented as in a meditative attitude, voluminously draped, and without any attribute.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anc. Myth.) The Muse of lyric poetry.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Greek mythology The Muse of sacred music.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (Greek mythology) the Muse of singing and mime and sacred dance

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Greek poly, (many) + hymn(os), (song in praise of gods) + -ia, (common feminine ending)

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Examples

  • Polyhymnia, which is celebrated above the rest for an expression of melancholy pensiveness not usually found among the ancients.

    Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century Jules Verne 1866

  •  I was kind of having a spat with you guys, and called Polyhymnia, so, uh, I don't really know what to tell you.”

    I'm Writing Brandon Lloyd Massey 2010

  • In 1971, the recording centre moved to a beautiful carriage house in Baarn, which was soon christened 'Polyhymnia', after the muse of sublime and sacred hymn.

    Audiophile Audition Headlines 2009

  • From the tenth century, the pipes of an organ were commonly called "muses," an evocative detail consistent with the placement of the Castellano organ in the "contemplative" niche of the east wall. 224 Polyhymnia, the muse of sacred song, is traditionally represented by the organ.

    Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

  • Urania is represented by the armillary sphere, Euterpe by flutes, Thalia by the rebec, Melpomene by the hunting horn, Terpsichore by the cittern, Erato by the jingle ring, and Polyhymnia by the organ.

    Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

  • The Greek Nine are: Clio, muse of history; Thalia, muse of comedy and bucolic poetry; Terpsichore, muse of dance; Euterpe, muse of lyric song; Polyhymnia, muse of sacred song; Calliope, muse of epic song; Erato, muse of erotic poetry; Urania, muse of astronomy; Melpomene, muse of tragedy.

    Muses Through the Years 2009

  • This play is one of many mixed media works produced by Polyhymnia, a local music/drama collective directed by Lauren Carley, a local actress, musician, performance artist, theater and choral director.

    Archive 2007-07-01 Celeste Winant 2007

  • This play is one of many mixed media works produced by Polyhymnia, a local music/drama collective directed by Lauren Carley, a local actress, musician, performance artist, theater and choral director.

    Acting "debut": The Isle of Aeae on July 26 Celeste Winant 2007

  • Polyhymnia, breathing the air of your presence, and glancing about her with

    Modeste Mignon 2007

  • Polyhymnia and Urania and Calliope 70, who is the chiefest of them all, for she attends on worshipful princes: whomsoever of heaven-nourished princes the daughters of great Zeus honour, and behold him at his birth, they pour sweet dew upon his tongue, and from his lips flow gracious words.

    Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, and Homerica 2007

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