thyrsusn.
/ˈθəːsəs/, U.S. /ˈθərsəs/ 1. Ancient Greek History and Roman History. A staff or spear tipped with an ornament like a pine-cone, and sometimes wreathed with ivy or vine branches; borne by Dionysus (Bacchus) and his votaries.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > Bacchus > staff or spear of
thyrsus1591
thyrse1603
ivy-darta1661
thyrsus-staff1844
1591 L. Lloyd Triplicitie of Triumphes sig. B3v Your Bacchus daunce is done,..Your sacred Thyrsus's wonne.
a1661 B. Holyday tr. Juvenal Satyres (1673) 110/2 The Thyrsus was a dart or javelin wrapt-about with ivy.
1735 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. V. 9 [They] carried a Thyrsus in their hands, a kind of pike with ivy-leaves twisted round it.
1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh ii. 45 Ivy..as good to grow on graves As twist about a thyrsus.
2. Botany, etc. A form of inflorescence: †(a) a lax spike, as in some orchids (obsolete); (b) a contracted kind of panicle, esp. one in which the primary branching is centripetal (racemose) and the secondary centrifugal (cymose), as in lilac and horse chestnut.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > inflorescence or collective flower > [noun] > of particular type, shape, or arrangement > panicle
panicle1577
juba1688
thyrsus1704
thyrse1744
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids > parts of
cullions1611
thyrsus1704
labellum1810
retinaculum1821
rostellum1821
caudicle1830
pseudobulb1832
massula1856
antenna1862
clinandrium1864
bucket1871
slipper1902
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Thyrsus, is a Word used by the Botanists, for the upright, and tapering Stalk: And 'tis often used for Spica, which is an Ear, or Blade of Corn.
1744 J. Wilson Synopsis Brit. Plants 14 Thyrsus, a Thyrse, differs from a spike, in having flowers or fruit set more thinly on it.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. iii. iv. 170 A Thyrsus, is a Panicle contracted into an ovate Form.
1861 R. Bentley Man. Bot. i. iv. 203 The Thyrsus or Thyrse..is a kind of panicle in which the pedicels are generally very short.
1864 J. R. Lowell Fireside Trav. 108 Hop~vines..hung their clustering thyrsi over the open windows.
Compounds
thyrsus-bearer n.
ΚΠ
1853 R. C. Trench On Lessons in Proverbs vi. 134 The thyrsus-bearers are many, but the bacchants few.
thyrsus-staff n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > Bacchus > staff or spear of
thyrsus1591
thyrse1603
ivy-darta1661
thyrsus-staff1844
1844 L. Schmitz in W. Smith Dict. Greek & Rom. Biogr. & Mythol. I. 1048/2 Bacchantic women,..carrying in their hands thyrsus-staffs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1591