cothurnus
Americannoun
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Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of cothurnus
1720–30; < Latin < Greek kóthornos buskin, type of boot worn by tragic actors in heroic roles
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Like the Greek actor before masks were invented, the Chinese actor paints his face, and the thick-soled boot which raises the Chinese tragedian from the ground is very much the counterpart of the cothurnus.
From China and the Chinese by Giles, Herbert Allen
He wore breeches or drawers reaching to the knees, and his feet and the lower part of the leg were covered with the cothurnus, a sort of traveller's half-boot.
From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 by Roby, John
In toga and cothurnus I had to read a pompous prologue, and did it amid shouts of "Basta! basta!" from the audience.
From The Fool Errant Being the Memoirs of Francis-Anthony Strelley, Esq., Citizen of Lucca by Hewlett, Maurice Henry
The Jack Pudding suddenly drew the cothurnus over his clogs.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 80, June, 1864 by Various
The buskin was the Greek cothurnus, a boot with high heels, designed to add stature and dignity to the tragic actor.
From Six Centuries of English Poetry Tennyson to Chaucer by Baldwin, James
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
