epithalamium
Americannoun
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epithalamiums,
plural
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epithalamia
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of epithalamium
C17: from Latin, from Greek epithalamion marriage song, from thalamos bridal chamber
Explanation
An epithalamium is a special poem written in honor of a marriage. Many epithalamiums are addressed to brides on their wedding days. The poetic form called an epithalamium started in ancient Greece as a song that was sung to the bride and groom on their wedding night by a group of children. Greek and Roman poets, including the poet Sappho, developed the epithalamium, in some cases celebrating specific marriages, and the 16th century English poet Edmund Spenser wrote Epithalamium for his own bride. The word means "bridal song," epithalamion in Greek, from epi, "upon," and thalamos, "bridal chamber."
Vocabulary lists containing epithalamium
Poetry: Genres
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Reading: Literature - Poetry - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
In fact, there’s a special term for a wedding poem: epithalamium.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 13, 2018
"Bees' Nests", hitchhiking "for hours, pole-axed by Marzine / on sick-making bends", an ancestor among the translators of the King James Bible, Geordie slang, birthday greetings and an epithalamium: this is a collection of range and richness.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 28, 2013
Included is a series of love poems, a kind of epithalamium to his young wife, who was his student at Bennington.
From Time Magazine Archive
The music played, the guzlars sang an epithalamium, to which everyone present joined in chorus.
From The Pobratim A Slav Novel by P. Jones
Fragments of his other pieces are preserved in Stobaeus; the epithalamium of Achilles and Deidameia is not his.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various
This genre reaches all the way back to ancient Greece, but the most famous epithalamia do not work well at modern weddings.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 13, 2018
Other notable epithalamia, from Edmund Spenser to E. E. Cummings , are just too long and obtuse to do the trick.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 13, 2018
Let festive epithalamia resound through these ancient halls!
From The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan by Sir W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert
Music was heard until a late hour, and epithalamia were again resumed with the morning light.
From Philothea A Grecian Romance by Lydia Maria Francis Child
It is not known who was the fortunate orator, but we are familiar with the names of some of the poets who addressed epithalamia to the beautiful princess.
From Lucretia Borgia According to Original Documents and Correspondence of Her Day by Ferdinand Gregorovius
On the other hand, he is entirely original in his epithalamiums, charming descriptions of the felicity of young conjugal life and the sweet blessings of pure love.
From Jewish Literature and Other Essays by Gustav Karpeles
This nuptial hymn has been the model of many epithalamiums, particularly that of Jason and Creusa, sung by the chorus in Seneca’s Medea, and of Honorius and Maria, in Claudian.
From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by John Dunlop
We come now to the three celebrated epithalamiums of Catullus.
From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by John Dunlop
What brick and mortar idylls, what romances au cinquième, what joyous epithalamiums, what gay improvident ménages, what kisses, what laughter, what tears, what lightly-spoken and lightly-broken vows those old walls could have told of!
From In the Days of My Youth by Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards
From those votaries of Hymen who were honoured with his epithalamiums, he received a small reward.
From The Works of William Hogarth: In a Series of Engravings With Descriptions, and a Comment on Their Moral Tendency by John Trusler
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