dithyrambicadj.n.
/dɪθɪˈrambɪk/ A. adj.
a. Pertaining to, or of the nature of, a dithyramb; composing dithyrambs.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [adjective] > Greek choric hymn
dithyrambic1603
dithyrambical1624
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > lyric poem > [adjective] > dithyramb
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1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1358 To Bacchus they do chant..certeine Dithyrambicke ditties and tunes.
1656 A. Cowley Praise of Pindar in Pindaric Odes ii So Pindar does new Words and Figures roul Down his impetuous Dithyrambique Tide.
1853 G. Grote Hist. Greece XI. ii. lxxxiii. 36 The dithyrambic poet Philoxenus.
1854 H. W. Longfellow Epimetheus ii With dithyrambic dances.
b. transferred. Resembling a dithyramb in irregularity of style; wild, vehement, boisterous.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective] > vehement
violent?1518
vehement1529
loud1530
flame-coloured1598
saltpetre1598
dithyrambic1608
fired1725
1608 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 96 Baal's baalling Priests..howling chant these Dithyrambi'k charms.
1690 W. Temple Ess. Poetry in Wks. (1731) I. 245 The common Vein of the Gothick Runes was what is termed Dithirambick.
1696 R. Bentley Of Revel. & Messias 26 Dithyrambick liberty of stile.
1838 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Ferdinand & Isabella II. i. xx. 228 A flow of lofty dithyrambic eloquence.
B. n.
a. A dithyrambic verse; a dithyramb.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > Greek Bacchanalian song
dithyramb1603
dithyrambic1646
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > lyric poem > [noun] > poem to be sung > dithyramb
dithyramb1603
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1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vii. xiv. 367 Philoxenus..went off from the Dorik Dytherambicks unto the Phrygian Harmony. View more context for this quotation
1850 F. D. Maurice Moral & Metaphysical Philos. (ed. 2) I. 126 [Plato] had been a writer of dithyrambics.
b. Something resembling a dithyramb in style.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [noun] > flow of impassioned language
strain1649
dithyrambic1828
dithyramb1863
1828 T. Carlyle Goethe's Helena in Misc. Ess. (1872) I. 163 He concludes with another rapid dithyrambic describing the Peninsula of Greece.
c. A writer of a dithyramb.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > poet by kind of poem > [noun] > dithyrambist
dithyrambic1674
dithyrambist1885
1674 T. Blount Glossographia (ed. 4) The Poets, who composed such Hymns, were called Dithyrambicks.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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adj.n.1603