thyrsus
pronunciation
How to pronounce thyrsus in British English:
UK ['θɜ:səs]
How to pronounce thyrsus in American English:
US ['θɜsəs]
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- Noun:
- a dense flower cluster (as of the lilac or horse chestnut) in which the main axis is racemose and the branches are cymose
Word Origin
- thyrsus (n.)
- 1590s, from Latinized form of Greek thyrsos, literally "stalk or stem of a plant," a non-Greek word of unknown origin. The staff or spear, tipped with an ornament like a pine cone and sometimes wreathed in ivy and vine branches, borne by Dionysus and his votaries.