thyrsus

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: thyr=sus

CIDE DICTIONARY

thyrsus, n. [L., fr. Gr. . Cf. Torso.].

•  A staff entwined with ivy, and surmounted by a pine cone, or by a bunch of vine or ivy leaves with grapes or berries. It is an attribute of Bacchus, and of the satyrs and others engaging in Bacchic rites.  [1913 Webster]

  "A good to grow on graves
  As twist about a thyrsus."  [1913 Webster]

  "In my hand I bear
  The thyrsus, tipped with fragrant cones of pine."  [1913 Webster]
•  A species of inflorescence; a dense panicle, as in the lilac and horse-chestnut.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

thyrsus, n. (pl. thyrsi)
1 Gk & Rom. Antiq. a staff tipped with an ornament like a pine-cone, an attribute of Bacchus.
2 Bot. an inflorescence as in lilac, with the primary axis racemose and the secondary axis cymose.

Etymology

L f. Gk thursos