dithyramb

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The Word of the Day for August 12 is:

dithyramb   \DITH-ih-ram\   noun 
     1 : a usually short poem in an inspired wild irregular strain 
    *2 : a statement or writing in an exalted or enthusiastic vein

Example sentence:
     "Among the items offered was the brand of peanut butter I especially 
relish..., with my published dithyramb to it alongside." (William F. Buckley 
Jr., _The New Yorker_, February 9, 1987) 

Did you know?    
     In ancient Greece, the wine god Dionysus (or Bacchus) was feted several 
times throughout the year. Processions, feasts, dances, and dramatic 
performances, accompanied by poems recited or sung in the god's honor, were all 
part of the revelry. Not too surprisingly, the poems tended to be wild, 
irregular, and dissonant. We know that the Greeks used "dithyrambos" as the 
word for a poem in honor of Dionysus, but beyond that the origin of the word is 
unknown. The ancient Greeks also had an adjective, "dithyrambikos," which gave 
us our adjective "dithyrambic," meaning "pertaining to or resembling a 
dithyramb." 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.





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