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  1. rhyton love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A hornlike drinking vessel of ancient times, often having a pointed end shaped like an animal or animal's head.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. In Greek antiquity, a type of drinking-vase, usually with one handle. In its usually curved form, pointed below, it corresponds to the primitive cup of horn. The lower part of the rhyton is generally molded into the form of a head of a man or, more often, of an animal, and is often pierced with a small hole through which the beverage was allowed to flow into the mouth.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A container from which fluids are intended to be drunk, having a base in the form of head.
  2. n. Greek drinking horn

Etymologies

  1. Ancient Greek ῥυτόν (rutón). (Wiktionary)
  2. Greek rhuton, from neuter of rhutos, fluid, liquid. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “It's technically known as a rhyton, which are usually used in religious places.”

    Holy Cow!

  • “The rhyton (derived from the ancient Greek word, ρυτον) is a container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or poured as a libation in a religious ceremony.”

    Glossary of Ceramics « Interactive Dig Crete – Zominthos Project

  • “Each rhyton has a hole at the bottom, through which liquids slowly flowed.”

    Glossary of Ceramics « Interactive Dig Crete – Zominthos Project

  • “We uncovered this rhyton, shaped like a pig, in the niche of room 11.”

    Picture 59 « Special Finds « Interactive Dig Crete – Zominthos Project

  • “Terracotta rhyton (ritual vessel) painted in "Marine Style”

    Minoans in Manhattan

  • “Visitors may recognize other hallmark Minoan artifacts in the show: clay tablets inscribed with the still-undeciphered Linear A writing, a bull's head rhyton carved from chlorite with gilded horns, and the "Chieftain's Cup," a carved steatite conical cup with processional scene (see photo gallery).”

    Minoans in Manhattan

  • “Also on display are several unprovenienced items from the Met's own collection, among them a ram's headed silver rhyton and two gold appliqués in the form of lions, purportedly from Iran.”

    At the Museums

  • “I should add that the rendering of the moustache on the mask is similar to the locks of the mane on the lion-head rhyton; moreover, its shape is the same as the upper lip of two of the masks from grave circle A.”

    The Case for Authenticity

  • “The small triangular beard growing below the lower lip of the mask also recalls the triangular beard of the lion-head rhyton.”

    The Case for Authenticity

  • “Vermeule had noted this earlier, attributing both rhyton and mask to the same artist and citing them as characteristically Mycenaean works.”

    The Case for Authenticity

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reverse dictionary (2)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. rhyta
  1. fox-head

tags (3)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. drink
  1. antiquity
  1. ccvcvc

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Lists

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Comments

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  • sionnach A young Dionysian named Rhyton
    Used to like to prance round with a triton
    Said Bil B. "You git!
    I told you to quit!
    You've gone and poked holes in my python. Feb 18, 2010

  • hernesheir ...or until someone reposts their comment from the day before: "The drinking vessel was typically decorated with a goat's head. Since it was not furnished with a flat base, the drinker had to consume the entire contents of the vessel before setting it down." Feb 18, 2010

  • reesetee ...or until someone's feet touch the white tape. Feb 18, 2010

  • Prolagus At least, we should stop at 42 comments. Feb 18, 2010

  • reesetee Wow. I used to like this page.

    *mumbles in fake umbrage* Feb 18, 2010

  • bilby Mumble mumble 27 mumble Feb 18, 2010

  • Telofy Though Milos ruined the Fibonacci sequence, we can still make the year–comments relation conform with the number of nonisomorphic groupoids with n elements. Only, then we’ll have to post 3330 comments next year . . .

    Edit: And if that doesn’t work out, this sequence might still save us. Feb 18, 2010

  • sionnach I bet y'all pick at your scabs as well. Feb 18, 2010

  • milosrdenstvi I guess there's no hope of recovery at all now. It's ruined forever. By both of us. And we just keep making it worse.

    Crap. Feb 18, 2010

  • yarb Ha! Milos, with your pithy comment you ruined my night of Wordniking. Which is worse, ruining an annual Wordnik ritual or ruining my night of Wordniking? Huh? It's a choose-your-own-adventure - i.e. you decide.

    Oh god, I ruined it. Feb 18, 2010

  • milosrdenstvi Yarb, you ruined it! Feb 18, 2010

  • yarb Thanks, hh, for providing the annual comment on this word. Feb 18, 2010

  • hernesheir The drinking vessel was typically decorated with a goat's head. Since it was not furnished with a flat base, the drinker had to consume the entire contents of the vessel before setting it down. Feb 18, 2010

  • artoparts In Persian and Iranian legends, the mighty Gaokerena "ox horn" was a mythic Haoma plant that had healing properties when eaten and juice from its fruit gave the elixir of immortality. Jan 22, 2009

  • reesetee A drinking vessel used in parts of the ancient world. Most ancient glass rhytons are of the Roman period. They are in the form of a horn, sometimes with the head of an animal at the tip. The tip is perforated, and one drank from it by holding the rhyton above the head and catching the stream of liquid in the mouth. Nov 8, 2007

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‘rhyton’ has been looked up 2238 times, loved by 1 person, added to 15 lists, commented on 15 times, and has a Scrabble score of 12.