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Definition of Pyrrhic
1. Adjective. Of or relating to a war dance of ancient Greece. "Pyrrhic dance movements"
2. Noun. A metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed syllables.
3. Adjective. Of or relating to or containing a metrical foot of two unstressed syllables. "Pyrrhic verses"
4. Noun. An ancient Greek dance imitating the motions of warfare.
5. Adjective. Of or relating to or resembling Pyrrhus or his exploits (especially his sustaining staggering losses in order to defeat the Romans). "A Pyrrhic victory"
Definition of Pyrrhic
1. a. Of or pertaining to an ancient Greek martial dance.
2. n. An ancient Greek martial dance, to the accompaniment of the flute, its time being very quick.
Definition of Pyrrhic
1. Adjective. achieved at excessive cost ¹
2. Adjective. (prosody) Of or characterized by pyrrhics. ¹
3. Adjective. (prosody) Relating to Pyrrhus, a Macedonian king, or some of his costly victories he had while fighting Rome. ¹
4. Noun. An Ancient Greek war dance. ¹
5. Noun. (prosody) A metric foot with two short or unaccented syllables. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Pyrrhic
1. a type of metrical foot [n -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Pyrrhic
Literary usage of Pyrrhic
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Gentleman's Magazine (1821)
"... the fifth a pyrrhic, and the sixth a trochee. But, according to the Oxonian
mode of pronunciation, ..."
2. Hermathena by Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland) (1885)
"On the Elision of Words of pyrrhic Value in the Greek Tragics. By ROBERT Y.
TYRRELL, MA, . . . 258 Emendations. By JOHN B. BURY, FTCD, . . .267 On the ..."
3. Institutes of Latin Grammar by John Grant (1808)
"the pyrrhic verse, and the Ionic ; and lastly Mixt verses. OP THE pyrrhic.
There is but one kind of pyrrhic verse, consisting of two or more ..."
4. A System of English Versification: Containing Rules for the Structure of the by Erastus Everett (1848)
"THE pyrrhic. § 36. Quantity of the pyrrhic. THIS foot, being composed of two
short syllables, adds briskness to the movement, and is often employed to ..."
5. Pottery and Porcelain of All Times and Nations: With Tables of Factory and by William Cowper Prime (1878)
"... written on fragments of pottery, instead of the received idea that the Greeks
voted with shells. Specimens of enamelled pottery 01. The pyrrhic Dance ..."
6. The Poetry of the Future by James Wood Davidson (1888)
"The pyrrhic (— —) consists of two weak syllables ; and from our definition of a
foot it is clear that we cannot make this one at all. ..."
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