calypso Hear it!

calypso definition

ca·lypso (kə lip′sō)

adjective

designating or of songs improvised and sung as originally by the native people of Trinidad: they are satirical ballads, usually topical, characterized by wrenched syllabic stress and syncopated rhythms

Etymology: altered < ? Trinidad patois kaiso, town crier, who gave news in rhythm and doggerel

noun pl. calypsos -·sos

a calypso song or calypso music
Calypso definition

Ca·lypso (kə lip′sō)

noun

  1. in Homer's Odyssey, a sea nymph who keeps Odysseus on her island for seven years
  2. pl. Calypsos -·sos an orchid (Calypso bulbosa) growing in boggy regions of the Northern Hemisphere: its solitary pink flower has purple or yellow markings

Etymology: L < Gr Kalypsō < kalyptein: see calyptra

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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