thyrsus

American  

[thur-suhs] / ˈθɜr səs /

noun

plural

thyrsi

1. Botany. a thyrse.

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

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thyrsus British  

/ ˈθɜːsəs /

noun

1. Greek myth a staff, usually one tipped with a pine cone, borne by Dionysus (Bacchus) and his followers

2. a variant spelling of thyrse

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Etymology

Origin of thyrsus

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

Example Sentences

In last year's district finals, Melody, a straight A student at Pittsburgh's Carrick Junior High, muffed thyrsus, placed second.

From Time Magazine Archive

A mantle of panther's fur swept from her shoulders, her arms and her bust were laden with heavy necklaces and bracelets taken from some Etruscan tomb, and she waved a golden thyrsus.

From Romance of Roman Villas (The Renaissance) by Champney, Elizabeth W. (Elizabeth Williams)

Drunken Bacchantes danced before them, waving the thyrsus, hand in hand with fauns and satyrs; they encircled a triumphal car, drawn by spotted lynxes.

From Psyche by Couperus, Louis

She had in her hand a symbol, or badge, called the thyrsus, which was an ornamented staff, or pole, surmounted with a carved representation of a bunch of grapes, and with other ornaments and emblems.

From Nero Makers of History Series by Abbott, Jacob

She used to be followed with many attendants, who had each a thyrsus with serpents twined round it.

From Ophiolatreia An Account of the Rites and Mysteries Connected with the Origin, Rise, and Development of Serpent Worship in Various Parts of the World by Anonymous