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epithalamium

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin epithalamium, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπιθαλάμιον (epithalámion, bridal song), neuter form of ἐπιθαλάμιος (epithalámios), from ἐπί (epí, upon) + θάλαμος (thálamos, inner chamber, wedding chamber).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɛpɪθəˈleɪmɪəm/

Noun

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epithalamium (plural epithalamiums or epithalamia)

  1. A song or poem celebrating a marriage.
    • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
      Softly she laughed and sighed, and swift her glances flew. She shook her heavy tresses, and their perfume filled the place; she struck her little sandalled foot upon the floor, and hummed a snatch of some old Greek epithalamium.
    • 1976, Choice - Volume 13, Issues 8-12, page 1300:
      He has wittily redone a tardy epithalamium and some nursery rhymes ("Three blind eunuchs"), and deftly catches the cozy lawnfuls of plastic dwarfs and flamingos, outside the kenneled people.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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