Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Mythology A staff tipped with a pine cone and twined with ivy, carried by Dionysus, Dionysian revelers, and satyrs.
- n. Botany A thyrse.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One of the most common attributes or emblems of Dionysus (Bacchus) and his thiasus and vo taries. It was a staff tipped with an ornament like a pine-cone and sometimes wrapped round with ivy and vine-branches, and appears in various modifications in ancient representations. The bacchantes carried thyrsi in their hands when they celebrated their orgies. Also
thyrse . - n. Same as thyrse, 2.
Wiktionary
- n. A staff topped with a conical ornament, carried by Bacchus or his followers.
- n. botany A species of inflorescence; a dense panicle, as in the lilac and horse-chestnut.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A staff entwined with ivy, and surmounted by a pine cone, or by a bunch of vine or ivy leaves with grapes or berries. It is an attribute of Bacchus, and of the satyrs and others engaging in Bacchic rites.
- n. (Bot.) A species of inflorescence; a dense panicle, as in the lilac and horse-chestnut.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a dense flower cluster (as of the lilac or horse chestnut) in which the main axis is racemose and the branches are cymose
Etymologies
- From Latin thyrsus, from Ancient Greek θύρσος (thursos). (Wiktionary)
- Latin, from Greek thursos. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The thyrsus was a long staff, carried by Bacchus, and by the Satyrs and Bacchanalians engaged in the worship of the God of the grape.”
“As she worshipped the god she typically held a thyrsus, a giant fennel staff topped with a pinecone.”
“Satyrs often carry the thyrsus: the rod of Dionysus tipped with a pine cone.”
“He is often to be found on this blog, either riding the Behemouth with a cowboy whoop or following behind it on foot, having set it off on a rampage with a swipe of his sacred thyrsus across its arse.”
“The Dionysian thyrsus, like the later withche's wand, was willow.”
“Theban blood; with no wild waving of the thyrsus, clad in fawnskin thou dancest, but with chariots and bitted steeds wheelest thy charger strong of hoof.”
“Oh! to reach a spot where cursed Cithaeron ne'er shall see me more nor I Cithaeron with mine eyes; where no memorial of the thyrsus is set up!”
“We liked his speech, and placed ourselves in hidden ambush among the leafy thickets; they at the appointed time began to wave the thyrsus for their Bacchic rites, calling on Iacchus, the Bromian god, the son of Zeus, in united chorus, and the whole mount and the wild creatures re-echoed their cry; all nature stirred as they rushed on.”
“Shall I hold the thyrsus in the right or left hand to look most like a Bacchanal?”
“For though the ironshod dart would draw no blood from them, they with the thyrsus, which they hurled, caused many a wound and put their foes to utter rout, women chasing men, by some god's intervention.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘thyrsus’.
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phrontistery-t
from phrontistery.info
tyromancy, tyroma, tyroid, tyriasis, tyrannicide, typtology, typothetae, typomania, typography, typographia, typhonic, typhomania and 930 more...
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250 Extra Spelling Words
Some more words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
cultellarius, barouche, palanquin, badelaire, cavetto, tregetour, tergiversate, rhododendron, rhadamanthine, thyrsus, cappelletti, bradycardia and 238 more...
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Grapes
sour grapes, grape, grapes, raisin, Nehi grape soda, Petit Verdot, Concord, Pinot Meunier, scuppernong, muscadine, Catawba, seedless and 112 more...
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euphonic logorrhea
cephalopodous, plumulaceous, oblomovism, etiolation, pavonine, somnolent, logorrhea, fulguration, gossamer, prestidigitation, daffodil, inchoate and 174 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (T)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
tabard, tadpole, taffeta, taffy, talisman, tallgrass, tam, tamarind, tamarack, tambourine, tango, tansy and 144 more...
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deidionysus's list
Words, words, words!
cartesian, shavian, dithyramb, dreadnaught, lea, adamantine, titanomachy, theomachy, aethereal, ambrosia, ambrosial, aether and 183 more...
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patterns
ergodic, stochastic, stereopsis, echolocation, holocation, broker, map, intarsia, encipher, ocellus, muslin, mandelbrot set and 159 more...
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The Collection
A somewhat discriminatory list of words and phrases collected for their euphonic or arcane appeal, interesting etymology, or concise definition of an otherwise unnamed phenomenon or concept.
ziggurat, neophilia, sucker punch, soporific, epoch, tundra, fiat, idiotproof, miscellany, metaphysics, cryptozoology, dysphoria and 850 more...
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Clearinghouse
For stuff to simply reside.
calcar, pinion, espadrille, antipodes, peregrine, cormorant, tanager, vireo, farrago, undervest, passerine, oscine and 881 more...
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Master
comprehensive
picaresque, carnivalesque, -esque, grotesque, Cocteau, necropolis, hypnopædic, mojito, imprimatur, insouciance, idyll, maestro and 239 more...
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keats
hyperion, endymion, basil, nectarous, gordian, stygian, pelf, phantasied, bier, plumage, writhen, phial and 57 more...
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iliad by edward earl of derby
prosody, dactylics, canning, hecatombs, kindle, broils, double goblet, strive, succour, weal, bawling, scurril and 49 more...
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jaime_d's Words
carom, abreactive, ukase, parturition, collodion, pergola, marquetry, boule, buer, boskage, jerry, polony and 18 more...
Tweets
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