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terpsichorean - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Terpsichore (the Muse of dance in Greek mythology).

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌtəːp.sɪ.kəɹˈiː.ən/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌtɝp.sɪ.kəˈɹiː.ən/, /ˌtɝp.sɪˈkɔɹ.iː.ən/
  • ,

terpsichorean (comparative more terpsichorean, superlative most terpsichorean)

  1. (dance) Of or relating to dancing.
    • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 47, in The History of Pendennis. [], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, [], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

      The pair danced away with great agility and contentment,—first a waltz, then a galop, then a waltz again, until, in the second waltz, they were bumped by another couple who had joined the Terpsichorean choir.

    • 1865, Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend:

      This was such an entirely new view of the Terpsichorean art as socially practised, that Mrs Lammle looked at her young friend in some astonishment

    • 1939, T. S. Eliot, “The Song of the Jellicles”, in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats:

      They're quiet enough in the morning hours,
      They're quiet enough in the afternoon,
      Reserving their terpsichorean powers
      To dance by the light of the Jellicle Moon.

    • 1970, Monty Python, The Cheese Shop:

      Oh, heaven forbid: I am one who delights in all manifestations of the Terpsichorean muse!

This word is sometimes capitalized, because of its etymology from a proper noun.

terpsichorean (plural terpsichoreans)

  1. A person who dances, especially professionally.