paean

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Related to paeans: fervid, expatiate, abase

pae·an

also pe·an (pē′ən)

1. A song of joyful praise or exultation.

2. A fervent expression of joy or praise: "The art ... was a paean to paganism" (Will Durant).

3. An ancient Greek hymn of thanksgiving or invocation, especially to Apollo.

[Latin paeān, hymn of thanksgiving, often addressed to Apollo, from Greek paiān, from Paiā, a title of Apollo.]

pae′an·is′tic (-ĭs′tĭk) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

paean

(ˈpiːən) or

pean

1. (Historical Terms) a hymn sung in ancient Greece in invocation of or thanksgiving to a deity

2. any song of praise

3. enthusiastic praise: the film received a paean from the critics.

[C16: via Latin from Greek paiān hymn to Apollo, from his title Paiān, denoting the physician of the gods]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pae•an

(ˈpi ən)

n.

a song of praise, joy, thanksgiving, or triumph.

[1535–45; < Latin, song of triumph or thanksgiving addressed to Apollo or another god < Greek paian, paiṓn, orig. an epithet of Apollo]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	paean - a formal expression of praise encomium, panegyric, pean, eulogy congratulations, extolment, kudos, praise - an expression of approval and commendation; "he always appreciated praise for his work"
	2.	paean - (ancient Greece) a hymn of praise (especially one sung in ancient Greece to invoke or thank a deity) pean hymn, anthem - a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation) Ellas, Greece, Hellenic Republic - a republic in southeastern Europe on the southern part of the Balkan peninsula; known for grapes and olives and olive oil antiquity - the historic period preceding the Middle Ages in Europe

paean

noun (Literary)

1. eulogy, tribute, panegyric, hymn of praise, encomium The film is a paean to adolescent love.

2. hymn, anthem, thanksgiving, psalm The piece is a paean of praise for God and his creation.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

παιάνας

péan

diadalénekhálaének

peana

paean

[ˈpiːən] N → himno m de alegría
paeans of praise → alabanzas fpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

paean

n → Lobrede f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in classic literature ?

An hour or two after its termination, loud paeans chanted through the valley announced the approach of the victors.

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`Unless Phoebus Apollo should save him from death, or Paean himself who knows the remedies for all things.'

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This quickly took us out of range of Red-Eye, and the last we saw of him was far out on a point of land, where he was jumping up and down and chanting a paean of victory.

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In his eyes was a desire to chant a paean. He kept repeating, "They 've held 'em, by heavens!"

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The forest echoed to the savage and triumphant paean. Birds fell still, and the larger animals and beasts of prey slunk stealthily away, for few there were of all the jungle who sought for trouble with the great anthropoids.

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Ringing through his brain and heart and soul like some joyous paean were those words that had so altered the world for Gahan of Gathol: "I love you, Turan; I love you so!" And it had come so suddenly.

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The mail was taken charge of, the dogs driven away to quarters and fed, and Bettles struck up the paean of the sassafras root as they lined up against the long bar to drink and talk and collect their debts.

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With a wild paean of joy that attracted Captain Van Horn's all-hearing ears and all-seeing eyes, Jerry sprang to the attack.

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He trembled at the audacity of his thought; but all his soul was singing, and reason, in a triumphant paean, assured him he was right.

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Thus all day long the young men worshipped the god with song, hymning him and chaunting the joyous paean, and the god took pleasure in their voices; but when the sun went down, and it came on dark, they laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of the ship, and when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they again set sail for the host of the Achaeans.

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And Tarwater would lift his voice in the cackling chant, as he lifted it at the end, when the boat swung in through driving cake- ice and moored to the Dawson City bank, and all waterfront Dawson pricked its ears to hear the triumphant paean: Like Argus of the ancient times, We leave this modern Greece, Tum-tum, tum-tum, tum, tum, tum-tum, To shear the Golden Fleece,

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For Zeus who hates the braggart's boast Beheld that gold-bespangled host; As at the goal the paean they upraise, He struck them with his forked lightning blaze.