Word Study
sapphic
CIDE DICTIONARY
sapphic, a. [L. Sapphicus, Gr. , fr. Sappho.].
- Of or pertaining to Sappho, the Grecian poetess; as, Sapphic odes; Sapphic verse. [1913 Webster]
- Belonging to, or in the manner of, Sappho; -- said of a certain kind of verse reputed to have been invented by Sappho, consisting of five feet, of which the first, fourth, and fifth are trochees, the second is a spondee, and the third a dactyl. [1913 Webster]
sapphic, n.
A Sapphic verse. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
sapphic, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 of or relating to Sappho, poetess of Lesbos c.600 BC, or her poetry.
2 lesbian.
--n. (in pl.) (sapphics) verse in a metre associated with Sappho.
--adj.
1 of or relating to Sappho, poetess of Lesbos c.600 BC, or her poetry.
2 lesbian.
--n. (in pl.) (sapphics) verse in a metre associated with Sappho.
Etymology
F sa(p)phique f. L Sapphicus f. Gk Sapphikos f. Sappho
THESAURUS
sapphic
AC-DC, Alcaic, Anacreontic, Castalian, Homeric, Hudibrastic, Pierian, Pindaric, Theocritean, amphierotic, autoerotic, bardic, bisexed, bisexual, bucolic, butch, deviant, didactic, dithyrambic, dramatic, eclogic, effeminate, elegiac, epic, gay, heroic, homoerotic, homosexual, idyllic, lesbian, mannish, mock-heroic, narrative, pastoral, perverted, poetic, poetico-mystical, poetico-mythological, poetico-philosophic, poetlike, queer, rhapsodic, runic, skaldic, transvestite, tribadisticROGET THESAURUS
sapphic
Poetry
N poetry, poetics, poesy, Muse, Calliope, tuneful Nine, Parnassus, Helicon, Pierides, Pierian spring, versification, rhyming, making verses, prosody, orthometry, poem, epic, epic poem, epopee, epopoea, ode, epode, idyl, lyric, eclogue, pastoral, bucolic, dithyramb, anacreontic, sonnet, roundelay, rondeau, rondo, madrigal, canzonet, cento, monody, elegy, amoebaeum, ghazal, palinode, dramatic poetry, lyric poetry, opera, posy, anthology, disjecta membra poetae song, ballad, lay, love song, drinking song, war song, sea song, lullaby, music, nursery rhymes, doggerel, Hudibrastic verse, prose run mad, macaronics, macaronic verse, leonine verse, runes, canto, stanza, distich, verse, line, couplet, triplet, quatrain, strophe, antistrophe, verse, rhyme, assonance, crambo, meter, measure, foot, numbers, strain, rhythm, accentuation, dactyl, spondee, trochee, anapest, hexameter, pentameter, Alexandrine, anacrusis, antispast, blank verse, ictus, elegiacs, elegiac verse, elegaic meter, elegaic poetry, poet, poet laureate, laureate, bard, lyrist, scald, skald, troubadour, trouvere, minstrel, minnesinger, meistersinger, improvisatore, versifier, sonneteer, rhymer, rhymist, rhymester, ballad monger, runer, poetaster, genus irritabile vatum, poetic, poetical, lyric, lyrical, tuneful, epic, dithyrambic, metrical, a catalectin, elegiac, iambic, trochaic, anapestic, amoebaeic, Melibean, skaldic, Ionic, Sapphic, Alcaic, Pindaric, a poem round and perfect as a star, Dichtung und Wahrheit, furor poeticus, his virtues formed the magic of his song, I do but sing because I must, I learnt life from the poets, licentia vatum, mutum est pictura poema, O for a muse of fire!, sweet food of sweetly uttered knowledge, the true poem is the poet's mind, Volk der Dichter und Denker, wisdom married to immortal verse.For further exploring for "sapphic" in Webster Dictionary Online