θρίαμβος

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /tʰrí.am.bos/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈθri.am.bos/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈθri.am.bos/^[1]

Forms

θρῐ́ᾰμβος (thríambos) m (genitive θρῐᾰ́μβου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed like διθύραμβος (dīthúrambos) and ἴαμβος (íambos) and, like them, is probably Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek: Beekes points to the sequence ⟨ια⟩ and the suffix -αμβος (-ambos).^[2][3] Scarborough's database rates this very reliable.^[4] The old connection with the numeral “three”, as a “triple step”, is impossible according to Beekes.^[2] Sturtevant derived it from θριάζω (thriázō) under the influence of ἴαμβος (íambos).^[2][5] Wiktionary also mentions a possible Phrygian or Illyrian source and a link with θρῖον (thrîon, “fig leaf”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first recorded use is in Cratinus (5th century BC), for a hymn sung in processions in honour of Dionysus.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Tragedy, Pratinas and later writers (Diodorus, Athenaeus, Plutarch, Arrian) use it as an epithet of Dionysus himself.^[6][7] Latin borrowed it, through Etruscan, as triumphus, the triumph of a victorious general.^[6][8][9] From Polybius on Greek used θρίαμβος in turn to render the Roman triumph.^[7][6] Plutarch distinguishes the great triumph from the lesser one, the ovation, and Polybius also uses it for a Carthaginian victory procession.^[7][6][2]

Its derivative θριαμβεύω (thriambeúō) renders Latin triumphāre.^[2] Modern Greek θρίαμβος “triumph” is a learned word whose meaning goes back to the Hellenistic rendering of the Latin word.^[10] English triumph (late 14th century) and trump (1520s) come from the Latin word.^[8]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Cratinus uses it for a hymn to Dionysus.^[6][2]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for the Roman triumph.^[7][6][11]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch distinguishes the triumph from the ovation.^[7][6][11]
• Late 14th century – English borrows triumph from Latin and French.^[8]
• Modern Greek – θρίαμβος means triumph.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hymn to Dionysus sung in festal processions.^[6][1]
2. An epithet of Dionysus.^[6][7]
3. The Roman triumph; a victory procession.^[7][6]
4. (figurative) A scandal.^[6]

Related words

• Latin triumphus
• English triumph

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
5. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge