ithyphallic
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌɪθɪˈfælɪk/
ipa: /ˌɪθɪˈfælɪk/
ipa: /-θə-/
rhymes: -ælɪk
Forms: form: more ithyphallic
form: most ithyphallic
Etymology: Borrowed from Late Latin ithyphallicus, from Ancient Greek ἰθυφαλλικός (ithuphallikós), from ῑ̓θῠ́φαλλος (īthŭ́phallos, “phallus carried in festivals of Bacchus; ode sung in honour of the phallus; dance accompanying such an ode; dancer performing such a dance”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). ῑ̓θῠ́φαλλος is derived from ἰθῠ́ς (ithŭ́s) (variant of εὐθῠ́ς (euthŭ́s, “straight”)) + φαλλός (phallós, “penis; image of a penis, phallus”). The English word can be analysed as ithyphallus + -ic.
As regards the noun, compare Latin ithyphallicum (“poem with the same metre as the hymns to Priapus”).
Senses: examples: text: The title ΣΟΤΗΡ ΚΟΣΜΟΥ upon the composite priapic figure published by La Chausse is well known; and it is probable that the ithyphallic ceremonies, which the gross flattery of the degenerate Greeks sometimes employed to honor the Macedonian princes, had the same meaning as this title of Saviour, which was frequently conferred upon, or assumed by them.
ref: 1822 June, R. P. Knight, “An Inquiry into the Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology”, in The Classical Journal, volume XXV, number L, London: Printed by A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […]; sold by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown [et al.], →OCLC, part VI, paragraph 138, page 243:
text: In late classical and Hellenistic times the theatre could be the site of a prolonged and climactic performance by phallic choruses: Hyperides mentions the ithyphalloi dancing in the orchestra and Semos' account of both ithyphalloi and phallophoroi focuses on the moment that the choruses enter the theatre. But the ithyphalloi remained primarily processional and non-theatrical, as is clear from Demochares' account of the ithyphallic procession to meet Demetrius the Besieger.
ref: 2013, Eric Csapo, “Comedy and the Pompe: Dionysian Genre-crossing”, in E[mmanuela] Bakola, L[ucia] Prauscello, M[ario] Telò, editors, Greek Comedy and the Discourse of Genres, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 67–68:
glosses: Of or pertaining to the erect phallus that was carried in bacchic processions.
examples: text: Ithyphallic verse, which, because it consists of one periodic order, ought to have all pure trochees, and admits no other foot, except a tribrach, […] and that scarcely in the last place, because the rhythm ought to be more remiss at the end, is used chiefly by lyric poets in place of an epode.
ref: 1830, [Johann Gottfried Jakob] Hermann, “Of Ithyphallic Verse”, in John Seager, transl., Hermann’s Elements of the Doctrine of Metres, Abridged and Translated into English, London: Printed by A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […]; sold by Longman & Co. [et al.], →OCLC, § 131, page 29:
text: Archilochus and other writers of epodes frequently use the ithyphallic in distich composition, and in asynartete verses as the closing rhythm. The ithyphallic occurs sometimes in the beginning, or middle, […]
ref: 1844, Edward Munk [i.e., Eduard Munk], “Rhythms, the Fundamental Foot of which is Tripletimed; the Double or Trochaic-Iambic Class”, in Charles Beck, C[ornelius] C[onway] Felton, transl., The Metres of the Greeks and Romans. A Manual for Schools and Private Study. Translated from the German, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, part II (The Application of the Laws of Rhythm to Poetry by the Greeks and Romans), section I (Simple Rhythms), page 70:
glosses: Of or pertaining to the erect phallus that was carried in bacchic processions.
Of a poem or song: having the metre of an ode sung in honour of the bacchic phallus.
examples: text: Phthas, the inscription in phonetic hieroglyphs Ptah, in close-fitting dress, with the feet joined together, leaning on the platform consisting of four steps[…]. Also dwarfish and ithyphallic as in the temple at Memphis[…].
ref: 1852, C[arl] O[tfried] Müller [i.e., Karl Otfried Müller]; F[riedrich] G[ottlieb] Welcker, “Appendix. The Nations Not of Greek Race.”, in John Leitch, transl., Ancient Art and Its Remains; or A Manual of the Archæology of Art. … Translated from the German, new edition, London: Bernard Quaritch, […], →OCLC, section I.3.b (Subjects), page 232:
text: Hence the ubiquity of Priapus himself as a sculptural representative of the generative principle, populated the Roman gardens, assertive in ithyphallic pose.
ref: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page iii:
text: In a symbolism which does justice to the biologically sexual phase of life but which quickly transcends it, we find ithyphallic deities such as Thoth in Egypt and Hermes in Greece, as the spiritual messengers necessary to guide the souls of the dead to their resting place.
ref: 1963, Joseph L[ewis] Henderson, Maud Oakes, “Introduction”, in The Wisdom of the Serpent: The Myths of Death, Rebirth, and Resurrection (Patterns of Myth; Myth and Experience), New York, N.Y.: George Braziller, →OCLC, section III (Death and Rebirth as Cycles of Nature: The Descent of Inanna):
text: The phallic symbolism of the finger has long been popularly used. The middle finger is commonly held up as an ithyphallic insult, as is the thumb in the sign of the fig. The ancient Romans called the middle finger impudicus, "lewd."
ref: 1974, Rupert C. Allen, “Part One. Psyche and Symbol in Perlimplín.”, in Psyche and Symbol in the Theater of Federico García Lorca: Perlimplín, Yerma, Blood Wedding, Austin, Tex.; London: University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 77:
text: We have already referred to a stone sculpture suggestive of an ithyphallic dancer found at Harappa, a prototype of the Shiva at Nataraja. […] The sculptures of Shiva as an ithyphallic dancer are found in Orissa. At Asanpat in Keonjhar district an eight-armed ithyphallic sculpture of a dancing Shiva was found.
ref: 1987, M[anohar] L[axman] Varadpande, “Contribution of Religion”, in History of Indian Theatre, volume 1, New Delhi: Shakti Malik, Abhinav Publications, →ISBN, page 151:
synonyms: word: priapic
english: one sense
translation: one sense
glosses: Of or pertaining to an upward pointing, erect penis; (specifically) of an artistic depiction of a deity or other figure: possessing an erect penis.
examples: text: [I]t is specially desirable to be able to discern the difference […] between the "εὐνῇ καὶ φιλότητι" or "φιλότητι καὶ εὐνῇ μιγῆναι" of the Iliad and Odyssey, and an ithyphallic audacity that insults what is most sacred and decent among men.
ref: 1856 November, “Leaves of Grass. [By Walt Whitman.] Brooklyn, N.Y. 1855. 4to. pp. 95. Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1856. 16mo. pp. 384. [book review]”, in The Christian Examiner and Religious Miscellany, volume XXVI (4th Series; volume LX overall), number III, Boston, Mass.: Crosby, Nichols, and Company; New York, N.Y.: C. S. Francis & Co.; London: Edward T. Whitfield, […], →OCLC, page 473:
synonyms: word: adult
word: bawdy
word: blue
word: cheeky
word: dirty
word: indecent
word: filthy
word: gross
word: harlot
word: ithyphallic
word: lewd
word: mucky
word: naughty
word: near the knuckle
word: obscene
word: off-colour
word: racy
word: raunchy
word: ribald
word: ribaudred
word: ribaudrous
word: risqué
word: rorty
word: salacious
word: saucy
word: shocking
word: sluttish
word: slutlike
word: slutty
word: smutty
word: spicy
word: tartish
word: tarty
word: trampy
word: vulgar
glosses: Lascivious, obscene.
topics: communications
journalism
literature
media
poetry
publishing
writing
glosses: Pertaining to a metrical combination of two trochees followed by one spondee.
Related terms: ithyphallophobia
ithyphallus