Orphic

English

Etymology

From Orpheus +‎ -ic.

Adjective

Orphic (comparative more Orphic, superlative most Orphic)

1. (Greek mythology) Of or pertaining to Orphism and its doctrines and rituals.
   • 2004, Stephanie L. Budin, The Ancient Greeks: New Perspectives, ABC-CLIO, page 307:

     Orphic ideology mainly concerned the mysteries of Dionysos, which many Greeks took very seriously.

2. Having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding; mystic.
   • 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 115:

     […] he intended to be a divine artist, a man of visionary states and enchantments, Platonic possession. He got a Rationalistic, Naturalistic education at CCNY. This was not easily reconciled with the Orphic. But all his desires were contradictory.

3. Hypnotic; entrancing.

Translations

Of or pertaining to Orphism and its doctrines and rituals

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: òrfic
• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: orfisch (nl)
• Finnish: orfilainen
• French: orphique (fr)
• Friulian: orfic
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• Greek: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: orfico
• Polish: dotyczący Orfeusza
• Portuguese: órfico
• Romanian: orfic (ro)
• Russian: орфи́ческий (ru) (orfíčeskij)
• Spanish: órfico (es)

Noun

Orphic (plural Orphics)

1. (Greek mythology) A follower of Orphism.
   • 2021, Andrea Nightingale, Philosophy and Religion in Plato's Dialogues, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 137:

     In particular, Plato often refers to the “Orphics” and mentions the “Orphic life” (Orphikoi tines legomenoi bioi, Laws 782c). Plato clearly distinguished the Orphics and the Pythagoreans. To speak very generally, the Orphics believed that the soul had a divine beginning but fell from the gods due to an original crime.