noun pl. thyrsi thyr′si′ (-sī′)

1. a staff tipped with a pine cone and sometimes entwined with ivy or vine leaves, which Dionysus, the satyrs, etc. were represented as carrying
2. Bot. a flower cluster in which the main stem is racemose and the secondary stems are cymose, as in the lilac
   also thyrse (t̸hʉrs)

Etymology: L < Gr thyrsos; ? akin to Hittite tuwarsa-, grape vine