hyporchema

[hahy-per-kee-muh]

noun

plural

hyporchemata 

1. a lively choral ode sung in ancient Greece in honor of Apollo or Dionysus.

Other Word Forms

• hyporchematic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hyporchema¹

1595–1605; < Greek hypórchēma, equivalent to hyp- hyp- + orchē- (variant stem of orcheîsthai to dance with or to music; orchestra ) + -ma neuter noun suffix

Example Sentences

According to the historians, the Greeks attributed dancing to their deities: Homer makes Apollo orchestes, or the dancer; and amongst the early dances is that in his honour called the Hyporchema.

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But poesy and dancing share much in common especially in that type of song called Hyporchema, in which is the most lively representation imaginable, dancing doing it by gesture, and poesy by words.

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