pyrrhic

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɪɹɪk/^[1]

Etymology

There are two words.^[2][3] Pyrrhic as in Pyrrhic victory refers to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus,^{[4][5][3][6][7]} whose name is Greek for “red-haired”, from purrhós “flame-coloured”.^[3] Pyrrhic, the dance and metrical foot, comes from Latin pyrrhicha,^[3][7] from Ancient Greek πυρρίχη (purrhíkhē), the ancient Greek war dance,^[4][3][6][7] traditionally named after its inventor Pyrrhichus.^[4][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The war dance of the ancient Greeks, performed in armour (1597–8).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The name was also given to a metrical foot of two short syllables (1626).^[2][6][3] The adjective referring to Pyrrhus is from 1885,^[5][3][6][2] chiefly in Pyrrhic victory, a success won at too great a cost.^{[4][5][3][6][2]} Pyrrhus defeated the Romans at Asculum (279 BCE in Etymonline, 280 in Barnhart) but lost so many men that he could not go on to attack Rome,^[3][5] and is said to have remarked that one more such victory would ruin him.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1597–8 – the Greek war dance.^[2]
• 1626 – a metrical foot of two short syllables.^[6][2]
• 1749 – adjective, of pyrrhics.^[2][3]
• 1885 – of Pyrrhus, as in Pyrrhic victory.^[5][3][6][2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. (often capitalized) Of a victory, won at such great cost that it is hardly worth winning.
2. Of or consisting of pyrrhic feet.

Noun

1. A metrical foot of two short or unstressed syllables.
2. An ancient Greek war dance imitating the motions of combat.

Related words

• pyre
• pyro-

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House