cothurnus

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co·thur·nus

(kō-thûr′nəs)

n. pl. co·thur·ni (-nī′)

1. A buskin worn by actors of classical tragedy.

2. The ancient style of classical tragedy.

[Latin, buskin, from Greek kothornos, perhaps of Lydian origin.]

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.

cothurnus

(kəʊˈθɜːnəs) or

cothurn

n, pl -thurni (-ˈθɜːnaɪ) or -thurns

(Clothing & Fashion) the buskin worn in ancient Greek tragedy

[C18: from Latin, from Greek kothornos]

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

co•thur•nus

(koʊˈθɜr nəs)

also co•thurn

(ˈkoʊ θɜrn, koʊˈθɜrn)
n., pl. -ni (-nī).

1. buskin (def. 2).

2. a grave, elevated style of acting; tragedy.

[1720–30; < Latin < Greek kóthornos buskin]

co•thur′nal, adj.

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References in periodicals archive ?

Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo; hunc socei cepere pedem grandesque cothurni, 80 alternis aptum sermonibus et popularis vincentem strepitus et natum rebus agendis.

Iambic metapoetics in Horace, Epodes 8 and 12

The public's familiarity with the emperor, sharing the position of spectator, and the range of emotions aroused by its presence can be found in familiarity with the actors who gradually abandoning the solemnities of the discourse, at the same time with the dissolution of plays into pantomime, suspended the barriers of the stage and of the word exalted on cothurni and sliding into the communication of the immediate body.

Madness, power and histrionism

That those who as Aiantes or as Bishops enter Striking the floor with their cothurni and claiming the specialness of mystic joy Silver tassels mildness of verdancy's darkness breasts of superb skin I have lived in your own city myself