pyrrhic

See also: Pyrrhic

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin pyrrhichius, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek πυρρίχιος (purrhíkhios), from πυρρίχη (purrhíkhē, “war dance”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪɹ.ɪk/

Adjective

pyrrhic (not comparable)

1. (prosody) Of or characterized by pyrrhics.
2. Relating to Pyrrhus, a Macedonian king, or some of his costly victories he had while fighting Rome.

Translations

Of or characterized by pyrrhics

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 得不偿失 (zh) (débùchángshī)

• Esperanto: pirika
• Finnish: pyrrhinen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: pyrrhique (fr) m or f
• German: pyrrhisch
• Polish: pyrrusowy

Noun

pyrrhic (plural pyrrhics)

1. An Ancient Greek war dance.
2. (prosody) A metric foot with two short or unaccented syllables.