a war dance of the ancient Greeks
Origin of pyrrhic
Classical Latin pyrrhicha from Classical Greek pyrrhich?, war dancepyrrhic
pyr·rhic a metrical foot of two short or unaccented syllables
Origin of pyrrhic
Classical Latin pyrrhichius from Classical Greek pyrrhichios (pous), pyrrhic (foot) of or made up of pyrrhics
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"pyrrhic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/pyrrhic>.
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pyrrhic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/pyrrhic
pyrrhic
noun
A metrical foot having two short or unaccented syllables.
adjective
Of or characterized by pyrrhics.
Origin of pyrrhic
Latin pyrrhicius from Greek purrikhios from purrikhē a war dance perhaps from Purrikhos , supposed inventor of the danceTHE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"pyrrhic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/pyrrhic>.
APA Style
pyrrhic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/pyrrhic
Adjective
(not comparable)
- (prosody) Of or characterized by pyrrhics.
- Relating to Pyrrhus, a Macedonian king, or some of his costly victories he had while fighting Rome.
Noun
(plural pyrrhics)
Origin
From Latin pyrrhichius, from Ancient Greek πυÏÏίχιος (pyrrichos), from πυÏÏίχη (pyrriche, “war dance")
Adjective
(comparative more Pyrrhic, superlative most Pyrrhic)
- (not comparable) Of or relating to Pyrrhus (319/318-272 BC), Greek general and statesman.
- The Pyrrhic army lost the Pyrrhic war.
- Achieved at excessive cost.
- Pyrrhic victory
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"pyrrhic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/pyrrhic>.
APA Style
pyrrhic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/pyrrhic
