THYRSUS

thyrse, thyrsus

(noun) a dense flower cluster (as of the lilac or horse chestnut) in which the main axis is racemose and the branches are cymose

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

thyrsus (plural thyrsi)

A staff topped with a conical ornament, carried by Bacchus or his followers.

(botany) A species of inflorescence; a dense panicle, as in the lilac and horse-chestnut.

Source: Wiktionary


Thyr"sus, n.; pl. Thyrsi. Etym: [L., fr. Gr. Torso.]

1. A staff entwined with ivy, and surmounted by a pine cone, or by a bunch of vine or ivy leaves with grapes or berries. It is an attribute of Bacchus, and of the satyrs and others engaging in Bacchic rites. A good to grow on graves As twist about a thyrsus. Mrs. Browning. In my hand I bear The thyrsus, tipped with fragrant cones of pine. Longfellow.

2. (Bot.)

Definition: A species of inflorescence; a dense panicle, as in the lilac and horse-chestnut.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

7 June 2025

PARSEC

(noun) a unit of astronomical length based on the distance from Earth at which stellar parallax is 1 second of arc; equivalent to 3.262 light years


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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