coryphaeus

[kawr-uh-fee-uhs, kor-]

noun

plural

coryphaei 

1. the leader of the chorus in the ancient Greek drama.

2. the leader of an operatic chorus or any group of singers.

coryphaeus

/ ˌkɒrɪˈfiːəs /

noun

1. (in ancient Greek drama) the leader of the chorus

2. archaic,  a leader of a group

Word History and Origins

Origin of coryphaeus¹

1625–35; < Latin < Greek koryphaîos leading, equivalent to koryph ( ḗ ) head, top + -aîos noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of coryphaeus¹

C17: from Latin, from Greek koruphaios leader, from koruphē summit

Example Sentences

Plato—whom we refer to, because he is the coryphaeus of all the diverse host of Greek philosophy—seems to overestimate or rather to misconceive the place of knowledge.

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At a certain moment the choirs, which had chanted to right of the altar or stage and then to left of it, combined and sang in unison, or permitted the coryphaeus to sing for them all, standing in the centre.

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The author’s rich learning, comprehensive grasp of his subject, admirable order and precision of statement in this masterpiece drew from Heyne enthusiastic praise, and the acknowledgment that Eckhel, as the Coryphaeus of numismatists, had, out of the mass of previously loose and confused facts, constituted a true science.

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Variable hyphenation of master-pieces, masterpiece as in original Page 31. palladins as in original Page 98. depreciatory as in original Page 115. coryphoeus corrected to coryphaeus Page 135.

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In Metternich’s eyes Capo d’Istria, “the coryphaeus of liberalism,” was responsible for the tsar’s vagaries, the fount of all the ills of which the times were sick; and, for all the count’s diplomatic reticence, the Austrian spies who dogged his footsteps earned their salaries by reporting sayings that set the reactionary courts in a flutter.

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