Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- a Greek choral song or chant of vehement or wild character and of usually irregular form, originally in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus.
- any poem or other composition having similar characteristics, as an impassioned or exalted theme or irregular form.
- any wildly enthusiastic speech or writing.
noun
- (in ancient Greece) a passionate choral hymn in honour of Dionysus; the forerunner of Greek drama
- any utterance or a piece of writing that resembles this
c.1600, from Latin dithyrambus, from Greek dithyrambos, of unknown origin, perhaps a pre-Hellenic loan-word. A wild choric hymn, originally in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus. Related: Dithyrambic.