lyristes

Forms

lyristēs m (genitive lyristae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek λυριστής (luristḗs, “lyre player”),^[2][1][3] which goes with λύρα (lúra, “lyre”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the letters of Pliny the Younger,^[5][3] for a lyre player who entertained at dinner: Pliny writes to a friend that at his dinner he would have heard comic actors, a reader or a lyre player (comoedos vel lectorem vel lyristen).^[5]

Semantic evolution

Pliny names the lyristes several times beside the reader and the comic actor among the entertainments of a dinner.^[5][3] In the 5th century Sidonius Apollinaris uses it of a lyric poet.^[6][3] Medieval glossaries equate it with lyricen, citharista and citharoedus.^[7] English lyrist (1650s) came from it through French lyriste.^[8]

Timeline

• 61/62–before 117 AD – Pliny the Younger uses it of a lyre player at dinner.^[5][4]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it of a lyric poet.^[6][4]
• 1650s – English borrows it, through French, as lyrist.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A player of the lyre.^[2][9]
2. (Late Latin) A lyric poet.^[6]

Related words

• lyra
• lyristria
• English lyrist

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press