thyrsus

[ thur-suhs ]

noun,plural thyr·si

[thur-sahy]. /ˈθɜr saɪ/.

Botany. a thyrse.
Greek Antiquity. a staff tipped with a pine cone and sometimes twined with ivy and vine branches, borne by Dionysus and his votaries.

Origin of thyrsus

1585–95; <Latin <Greek thýrsos Bacchic staff, stem of plant

Words Nearby thyrsus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use thyrsus in a sentence

There are “many thyrsus bearers, few mystics,” many are called, few chosen.
How to Fail in Literature | Andrew Lang
Bacchus is generally represented as crowned with ivy or grape leaves and bearing an ivy-circled wand (the thyrsus).
Stories of Old Greece and Rome | Emilie Kip Baker
Sometimes the thyrsus is replaced by ivy leaves, which, like the fig, are symbolic of the triple creator.
Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism | Thomas Inman
The figure of the god stands upon a pillar of three stones, and it bears a thyrsus from which depend two ribbons.
Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism | Thomas Inman
Their heads were helmeted with triple brass, and impenetrable to the heaviest blows of the thyrsus of Bacchus.
The Golden Dog | William Kirby

British Dictionary definitions for thyrsus

thyrsus

/ (ˈθɜːsəs) /

nounplural -si (-saɪ)

Greek myth a staff, usually one tipped with a pine cone, borne by Dionysus (Bacchus) and his followers
a variant spelling of thyrse

Origin of thyrsus

C18: from Latin, from Greek thursos stalk

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

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