paean
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpiː.ən/
ipa: /ˈpi.ən/
rhymes: -iːən
homophone: peon
Forms: form: paeans
form: paeaning
form: paeaned
form: paeaned
Etymology: From Latin paeān (“a hymn, especially a victory hymn, to Apollo or another god”), from Ancient Greek παιᾱ́ν (paiā́n, “a chant or song, especially a thanksgiving or victory hymn, to Apollo under the name Παιᾱ́ν (Paiā́n)”), from the phrase Ἰὼ Παιᾱ́ν (Iṑ Paiā́n, “O Paean!, Thanks to Paean!”). According to Homer, Paián or Paean was the name of the physician of the gods; its further etymology is unclear. It has been suggested that Παιᾱ́ν is derived from *παιάϝων (*paiáwōn, “one who heals illnesses through magic”), from *παῖϝα (*paîwa), *παϝία (*pawía, “to blow”), related to παίω (paíō, “to hit, strike”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pēu-, *pyu-, *pū- (“to hit; to cut”)), or from παύω (paúō, “to bring to an end; to abate, to stop”) (from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)), or that it may be a Pre-Greek word.
Compare Middle French and French paean (also French péan), Italian peana, Portuguese peã, péan.
Senses: examples: text: Then let the pæaned hymn aspire, / Nor longer court unholy gloom; / Let happier music wake thy lyre, / Than haunts the precincts of the tomb.
ref: 1804, Joseph Story, “[Fugitive Poems:] Expostulation and Reply”, in The Power of Solitude. A Poem. In Two Parts, new and imp. edition, Salem, Mass.: Published by Barnard B. Macanulty, →OCLC, page 211:
text: Solemn, "as it were a pause in nature," was his [George Washington's] transit to eternity; thronged by the shades of heroes, his approach to the confines of bliss; pæaned by the songs of angels, his journey beyond the stars!
ref: 1812, Robert Treat Paine, Jr., “Eulogy on the Life of General George Washington”, in The Works, in Verse and Prose, of the Late Robert Treat Paine, Jun., Esq. With Notes. To which are Prefixed, Sketches of the Life, Character and Writings, Boston, Mass.: Printed and published by J. Belcher, →OCLC, part IV (Prose Writings), page 329:
text: What harbinger victorious tidings brings, / And yonder soars on golden wings? / Beams on the solar god her bright undazzled eyes, / Proclaims with pæaning trump some hero to the skies!
ref: 1842, Angus Umphraville, “The Siege of Baltimore”, in W[illia]m McCarty, editor, Songs, Odes, and Other Poems, on National Subjects; Compiled from Various Sources, part III (Military), Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by Wm. McCarty, No. 27 North Fifth Street, →OCLC, canto IV, stanza II, page 218:
text: Yea, with gladness did they pæan, bowing low before my car, / In my ears their homage echoed from the sunrise to the star.
ref: 1907, J[ohn] F[rederick] C[harles] Fuller, “The Looking-glass”, in The Star in the West: A Critical Essay upon the Works of Aleister Crowley, London; Felling-on-Tyne, County Durham; New York, N.Y.: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:
text: Spring is the season of Nature's most lavish output—why not the publisher's also? Some may object that the output of the publisher does not resemble that of Nature; but this criticism seems to us to be trivial. The simple fact that Nature and the publisher are working together means everything. And therefore we are paeaning our paeans of literary joy. We celebrate books. We celebrate literary people. We hail authors and authoresses.
ref: 1912 February, Lutie E[ugenia] Stearns, “The Books of 1911”, in Wisconsin Library Bulletin, volume 8, number 1, Madison, Wis.: Issued by the Wisconsin Free Library Commission, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19, column 1:
glosses: To sing a paean; to praise.