calypso

See also: Calypso

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ku̇lĭpʹsō, IPA^(key): /kəˈlɪp.səʊ/
• enPR: kəlĭpʹsō, IPA^(key): /kəˈlɪp.soʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɪpsəʊ

Etymology 1

Originally Trinidad English, an alteration of kaiso, perhaps ultimately of African origin; Allsopp 1996 suggests Ibibio ka iso (“come on”), used to urge dancers on. The spelling reflects a later folk-etymological assimilation with the mythological name Calypso.

Noun

calypso (countable and uncountable, plural calypsos or calypsoes)

1. A type of music and dance that originated in the West Indies (perhaps Trinidad), characterized by improvised lyrics on topical or broadly humorous subjects, often creating satire of current events.
   • 1959, V. S. Naipaul, “B. Wordsworth”, in Miguel Street:

     'How you does live, Mr. Wordsworth?' I asked him one day.

     He said, 'You mean how I get money?'
     When I nodded, he laughed in a crooked way.
     He said, 'I sing calypsoes in the calypso season.'
     'And that last you the rest of the year?'
     'It is enough.'

Derived terms

• calypsonian
• calypso-like
• gospelypso

Translations

type of music and dance

• Italian: calipso m
• Slovak: kalypso n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: calipso m
• Swedish: calypso (sv) c

Verb

calypso (third-person singular simple present calypsos, present participle calypsoing, simple past and past participle calypsoed)

1. (intransitive) To perform calypso.

Etymology 2

calypso ()

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin, itself from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek Καλυψώ (Kalupsṓ, “name of a sea nymph”)

Wikispecies

Noun

calypso (countable and uncountable, plural calypsos or calypsoes)

1. A bulbous bog orchid of the genus Calypso,
2. A light blue color. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

   calypso:  

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Anagrams

• cosplay

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Swedish

Noun

calypso c

1. calypso; a type of music or dance

Declension

Declension of calypso
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	calypso	calypson	calypsor	calypsorna
Genitive	calypsos	calypsons	calypsors	calypsornas