dithyramb

[dith-uh-ram, -ramb]

noun

a Greek choral song or chant of vehement or wild character and of usually irregular form, originally in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus.

any poem or other composition having similar characteristics, as an impassioned or exalted theme or irregular form.

any wildly enthusiastic speech or writing.

Origin of dithyramb

1595–1605; < Latin dīthyrambus < Greek dīthýrambos

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dithyramb

Historical Examples of dithyramb

His contribution to choral poetry was the elaboration of the dithyramb.
Studies of the Greek Poets (Vol I of 2)
John Addington Symonds
Rhetoric and dithyramb were gone from his speech and habit of mind.
Red Fleece
Will Levington Comfort
This was due to the introduction among the Dorians The dithyramb.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6
Various
Eden smiled at the dithyramb as were she listening to some fay she did not see.
Eden
Edgar Saltus
For the first time Verhaeren finds the form of the poem of the future—the dithyramb.
mile Verhaeren
Stefan Zweig

British Dictionary definitions for dithyramb

dithyramb

noun

(in ancient Greece) a passionate choral hymn in honour of Dionysus; the forerunner of Greek drama

any utterance or a piece of writing that resembles this

Word Origin for dithyramb

C17: from Latin dīthyrambus, from Greek dithurambos; related to iambos iamb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dithyramb

c.1600, from Latin dithyrambus, from Greek dithyrambos, of unknown origin, perhaps a pre-Hellenic loan-word. A wild choric hymn, originally in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus. Related: Dithyrambic.