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Oct 3, 2012
This week's theme
Words from classical mythology

This week's words
aesculapian
protean
terpsichorean
bacchanal
morphean

Terpsichore pic of
Terpsichore
Art: Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766)

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

terpsichorean

PRONUNCIATION:
(turp-si-kuh-REE-uhn, turp-si-KOR-ee-uhn, -KORE-)

MEANING:
adjective: Of or relating to dancing.
noun: A dancer.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Terpsichore, the Muse of dancing and choral song in Greek mythology. The word Terpsichore is the feminine form of terpsichoros (delighting in the dance), a combination of Greek terpein (to delight) and khoros (dance), which is ultimately from the Indo-European root gher- (to grasp or to enclose), also the source of chorus, carol, choir, garth, court, and garden. Earliest documented use: 1825.

USAGE:
"Each week, performers on the Fox terpsichorean competition So You Think You Can Dance have to learn new dance routines."
Rick Bentley; Choreographers Put Hearts Into Dance Too; The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio); Sep 3, 2012.

See more usage examples of terpsichorean in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I wish I could have known earlier that you have all the time you'll need right up to the day you die. -William Wiley, artist (b. 1937)

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