Word: ithyphallic Part of Speech: adj 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”). Pronunciation: /ˌɪθɪˈfælɪk/, /-θə-/ 1. Of or pertaining to the erect phallus that was carried in bacchic processions. Labels: Ancient-Rome, historical Example: 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. Example: 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. 2. Of or pertaining to the erect phallus that was carried in bacchic processions. Labels: Ancient-Rome, historical, specifically Example: 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. Example: 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, […] 3. Of or pertaining to an upward pointing, erect penis; (specifically) of an artistic depiction of a deity or other figure: possessing an erect penis. Example: 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[…]. Example: Hence the ubiquity of Priapus himself as a sculptural representative of the generative principle, populated the Roman gardens, assertive in ithyphallic pose. 4. Lascivious, obscene. Labels: broadly Example: [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. 5. Pertaining to a metrical combination of two trochees followed by one spondee.