epithalamium
Americannoun
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.
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
If Shikasta was an admonition, its successor is an epithalamium.
From Time Magazine Archive
The proper subject of this epithalamium is the festivals held in Thessaly in honour of the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis; but it is chiefly occupied with a long episode, containing the story of Ariadne.
From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by Dunlop, John
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.
