Euterpean

English

Etymology

Euterpe +‎ -an

Adjective

Euterpean (comparative more Euterpean, superlative most Euterpean)

1. Of or pertaining to the mythological figure Euterpe, or to music.
   • 1848, The Stranger's Guide in the City of Boston, page 59:

     G. P. REED is well known to the patrons and professors of Music in the Euterpean city of Boston.

   • 1851, Eleanor Margaret Geary, Musical education, page 65:

     The music of England is rich in historical reminiscence, and its most accomplished rulers have been votaries to the Euterpean muse.

   • 1852, Charles Dickens, Household Words - Volume 14, page 89:

     Popular melodies float gently through the summer air, and on your quay at Dumbledowndeary you have, in addition to the opportunity for improvement in the Euterpean art, the gratification of being exempted from the periodical visits of the trombone player on board;

Proper noun

Euterpean

1. Any of various musical, theatre, or literary societies, especially the Euterpean Society (A New York instrumentalist society and considered the oldest American musical society, active from 1799 to 1846).
   • 1886, The City of Milwaukee, page 16:

     The renowned "Philharmonic Society" of the present day was evolved from the "Euterpean”.

   • 1890, Frédéric Louis Ritter, Music in America, page 223:

     He is, on the whole, not better satisfied with the work done by the “Euterpean." This society was considered as perhaps the oldest musical society in the United States.

   • 1911, George Grove, John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, Waldo Selden Pratt, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians - Volume 3, page 367:

     Before the end of the first quarter of the 19th century there were in existence, besides the Euterpean, a Philharmonic Society and the Concordia, clubs of singers and instrumentalists, the former English in its constitution, the latter predominantly German.

   • 1950, College and Research Libraries - Volumes 11-16, page 184:

     The two most influential literary societies at Muhlenberg, the Euterpean and the Sophronian, were organized only seven days after the official opening of the institution in September of 1867.

2. Euterpean Hall, a theatre in New York City, on the east side of Broadway, near Walker Street, which later became the Broadway Theatre.
   • 1851, William Knight Northall, Before and Behind the Curtain, page 170:

     The business done at the Euterpean was very shy, and the prospect of any of the company — among whom, by-the-by, was Blakely, an old Park actor, as well as a National — was very doubtful.

   • 1878, “Music in New York Thirty Years Ago”, in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, volume 57, page 113:

     Such authority as his is now rare, for, beginning as a small boy at the Euterpean in its earliest days, he has heard every singer and musical artist of importance up to to-day's symphony concert.

   • 1926, Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry:

     Occasionally he took Sunday morning service for Mrs. Riddle at Euterpean Hall, when she was weary of curing rheumatism or when she was suffering from rheumatism; and always he had to be at Euterpean to give spiritual assistance.

Noun

Euterpean (plural Euterpeans)

1. A member of one of the various Euterpean clubs or societies.
   • 1892, S. E. Ochsenford, Muhlenberg College, page 150:

     Up to January 1, 1892, of the three hundred and eighty-eight college students who had attended Muhlenberg, two hundred were Euterpeans.

   • 1915, The American Magazine - Volume 80, page 41:

     "And the worst is," Mrs. Goldenstein continued, conscious for the first time of the Euterpeans, "mein Celie don't need no books, because she comes home to morrow."

   • 1928, Claude Davis Curtis, Three Quarters of a Century at Martha Washington College, page 72:

     The hearts and souls of all Euterpeans Are true and strong for all that's good forever

   • 1954, Jack Harlan Yocum, A History of Theatre in Houston, 1836-1954 - Volume 2, page 400:

     The Euterpeans scheduled their first performance for Christmas day when a double bill of The Hough Diamond and Family Pictures was to be presented.

   • 1974, Steven J. Novak, The Rights of Youth, page 52:

     Although his meaning is uncertain, he likened the "principles" of the Euterpeans to those of the Adelphics of 1805 – another abortive attempt to create a third society.