Paean

Definitions: Paean

Paean

Noun

1. A formal expression of praise.

2. A hymn of praise (especially one sung in ancient Greece to invoke or thank a deity).

Date "paean" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references)

Domain	Definitions
Literature	Paean The physician of the celestial gods; the deliverer from any evil or calamity. (Greek, pauo, to make to cease.) Paean A hymn to Apollo, and applied to the god himself. We are told in Dr. Smith's Classical Dictionary, that this word is from Paean, the physician of the Olympian gods; but surely it could be no honour to the Sun-god to be called by the name of his own vassal. Hermsterhuis suggests pauo, to make to cease, meaning to make diseases to cease; but why supply diseases rather than any other noun? The more likely derivation, me judice, is the Greek verb paio, to dart; Apollo being called the "far-darter." The hymn began with "Io Paean." Homer applies it to a triumphal song in general. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Paean, in Homer, was the Greek physician of the gods. In other writers the word is a mere epithet of Apollo in his capacity as a god of healing, but it is not known whether Paean was originally a separate deity or merely an aspect of Apollo.

Homer leaves the question unanswered. Hesiod definitely separates the two, and in later poetry Paean is invoked independently as a health god. It is equally difficult to discover the relation between Paean or Paeon in the sense of "healer" and Paean in the sense of "song." Farnell refers to the ancient association between the healing craft and the singing of spells, and says that it is impossible to decide which is the original sense. At all events the meaning of "healer" gradually gave place to that of "hymn," from the phrase Ii~ llafiu.

Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo, and afterwards to other gods, Dionysus, Helios, Asclepius. About the 4th century the paean became merely a formula of adulation; its object was either to implore protection against disease and misfortune, or to offer thanks after such protection had been rendered. Its connection with Apollo as the slayer of the python led to its association with battle and victory; hence it became the custom for a paean to be sung by an army on the march and before entering into battle, when a fleet left the harbour, and also after a victory had been won.

The most famous paeans are those of Bacchylides and Pindar. Paeans were sung at the festivals of Apollo (especially the Hyacinthia), at banquets, and later even at public funerals. In later times they were addressed not only to the gods, but to human beings. In this manner the Rhodians celebrated Ptolemy I of Egypt, the Samians Lysander of Sparta, the Athenians Demetrius, the Delphians Craterus of Macedon.

The word "paean" is now used in the sense of any song of joy or triumph.

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

Synonyms: Paean

Synonyms: encomium (n), eulogy (n), panegyric (n), pean (n). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Approbation	Applause, plaudit, clap; clapping, clapping of hands; acclaim, acclamation; cheer; paean, hosannah; shout of applause, peal of applause, chorus of applause, chorus of praise; Prytaneum.
Celebration	Noun: celebration, solemnization, jubilee, commemoration, ovation, paean, triumph, jubilation, ceremony (rite); holiday, fiesta, zarabanda, revelry, feast (amusement); china anniversary, diamond anniversary, golden anniversary, silver anniversary, tin anniversary, china jubilee, diamond jubilee, golden jubilee, silver jubilee, tin jubilee, china wedding, diamond wedding, golden wedding, silver wedding, tin wedding.
	Interjection: hail! all hail! io paean, io triumphe! " see the conquering hero comes!".
Gratitude	Thanks, praise, benediction; paean; Te Deum; (worship); grace, grace before meat, grace after meat, grace before meals, grace after meals; thank offering.
Rejoicing	Noun: rejoicing, exultation, triumph, jubilation, heyday, flush, revelling; merrymaking; (amusement); jubilee; (celebration); paean, Te Deum; (thanksgiving); congratulation.
Worship	Thanksgiving; giving thanks, returning thanks; grace, praise, glorification, benediction, doxology, hosanna; hallelujah, allelujah; Te Deum, non nobis Domine, nunc dimittis; paean; benschen; Ave Maria, O Salutaris, Sanctus, The Annunciation, Tersanctus, Trisagion.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Paean

Non-English Usage: "Paean" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses.

Latin (hymn of deliverance, paean).

Domain	Title
Books	13 For Corwin: A Paean of Praise for Norman Corwin, the #1 Writer-Producer-Director During Radio's Golden Age (reference) On Mozart: A Paean for Wolfgang: Being a Celestial Colloquy, an Opera Libretto, a Film Script, a Schizophrenic Dialogue, a Bewildered Rumination, a (reference) Sappho's island: a paean for Lesbos (reference) The PC and EDSA : a paean to the peers of '86 (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

"Paean" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Paean" is used about 19 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	100%	19	80,337

Expression using "paean": Interjection: hail! all hail! io paean. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "paean"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		himn (anthem, chant, hymn, Laud, Maidenhead). (various references)

Arabic		‏تسبيحة (hymn), ‏أنشودة الشكر. (various references)

Bulgarian		победен или хвалебен химн, пеан. (various references)

Dutch		lofzang, loflied. (various references)

Esperanto		glorkanto. (various references)

Farsi		پیروزی نامه نوشتن , پیروزی نامه , رجز (Epopee, Warcry). (various references)

French		péan. (various references)

German		lobrede (eulogy, laudatory speech, panegyric). (various references)

Greek		παιάνασ, παιάν (pean), άσμα θριάμβου. (various references)

Hebrew		תשבח�" (panegyric), שיר ת�"יל�". (various references)

Hungarian		hálaének, győzelmi ének, dicsőítő ének (encomia, encomium), diadalének (Jubilate), ünnepi ének. (various references)

Italian		peana. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		讚歌 (praise), 讃歌 (eulogy, song of praise). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		さ�"か (admiration, affiliated with, calamity, eulogy, mountain nomads, mountain villa, obstetrics, oxidation, participation, praise, song of praise, three summer months, under jurisdiction of, under the umbrella). (various references)

Pig Latin		aeanpay.(various references)

Portuguese		proprietário (holder, keeper, owner, owner of a network connection, proprietor, riparian). (various references)

Romanian		imn de mulţumire, cântec de bucurie sau victorie. (various references)

Russian		победная песня, пеан. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		pean, hvalospev (dithyramb, hymn, panegyric). (various references)

Spanish		himno de alegría. (various references)

Swedish		segerhymn (hymn of victory), lovsång (anthem, canticle, Carol, hymn, Laud), jubelsång. (various references)

Turkish		zafer şarkısı. (various references)

Ukranian		гімн (anthem, hymn), переможна пісня. (various references)

Vietnamese		b� i ca chiến thắng. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Greek	700 BCE-300 CE	paian. (various references)
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	paean. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "paean": paeanism, paeanisms, paeans. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Paean" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: apan, apeman, apena, Bawean, Gaean, iaian, Paban, pacan, pacean, Padana, Padarn, Paeca, paegan, paen, paeon, Paeonia, Paeony, pagean, Pahang, paian, Paiba, paina, Pajah, pajan, pakeha, pakehas, Pakeman, palan, pamen, panecan, Paoan, Paran, Parayno, paxen, Payan, peagan, peana, pevan, pian, Piegan, Plean, poean, pohang, poiein, powan, Praaaaam, Pradena, prean, punan. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "paean" (pronounced pē"un)
4	p ē" u n	cyclopean, peon.
3	-ē" u n	Eon, epicurean, plebeian, protean.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Direct Anagrams: apnea.
	Words within the letters "a-a-e-n-p"
	-1 letter: nape, neap, pane, pean.
	-2 letters: ana, ane, ape, nae, nap, pan, pea, pen.
	-3 letters: aa, ae, an, en, na, ne, pa, pe.
	Words containing the letters "a-a-e-n-p"
	+1 letter: apneal, apneas, apnoea, canape, paeans, paesan, pavane.
	+2 letters: anapest, apanage, apnoeal, apnoeas, apogean, canapes, capelan, deadpan, hanaper, paesani, paesano, paesans, pageant, pampean, panacea, panache, pancake, patinae, pavanes, pawnage, peasant, planate, platane, preanal, saphena.
	+3 letters: airplane, anableps, anapaest, anapests, anaphase, antepast, antirape, anyplace, apanages, aphanite, aphelian, appanage, apparent, campagne, capelans, catnaper, deadpans, empanada, epifauna, hanapers, jalapeno, japanize, japanned, japanner, lagnappe, napalmed, paeanism, paesanos, paganise, paganize, pageants, paginate, palatine, pampeans, panacean, panaceas, panaches, panatela, pancaked, pancakes, pancetta, pancreas, panetela, parament, paranoea, paravane, parental, parlance, parlante, partaken, paternal, patinate, pawnable, pawnages, pearmain, peasants, phalange, pheasant, placeman, placenta, planulae, platanes, pleasant, prenatal, priapean, pygmaean, saphenae, saucepan, scalepan, seaplane, spaceman, spearman, spelaean, tapenade, trappean, warplane.
	+4 letters: acceptant, aeroplane, airplanes, allophane, ampersand, analeptic, anapaests, anapestic, anaphases, antepasts, apartment, apartness, aphanites, appanages, appealing, appearing, appeasing, appellant, appendage, appendant, appertain, appliance, aquaplane, asynapses, campanile, captained, catnapers, catnapped, catnapper, champagne, decapodan, empanadas, encephala, epifaunae, epifaunal, epifaunas, esplanade, incapable, jalapenos, japanized, japanizes, japanners, lagnappes, lagniappe, landscape, leadplant, marchpane, melphalan, mercaptan, nameplate, neoplasia, orphanage, paeanisms, paganised, paganises, paganized, paganizer, paganizes, pageantry, paginated, paginates, palatines, panatelas, pancettas, panchaxes, panetelas, panhandle, pansexual, pantalets, pantalone, paragoned, paramenta, paraments, paranoeas, paravanes, parcenary, parentage, parlances, parsonage, patinated, patinates, patronage, pearmains, peasantry, pentagram, perinatal, phalanger, phalanges, phalanxes, pheasants, placentae, placental, placentas, planeload, planetary, plantable, pleasance, repairman, sailplane, sandpaper, saucepans, scalepans, seaplanes, spaceband, synalepha, tailplane, tapenades, trapanned, unadapted, wapentake, warplanes.
	+5 letters: acceptance, aeroplanes, allophanes, ampersands, anablepses, analeptics, analphabet, anapestics, anastrophe, anemograph, antechapel, antependia, anticipate, antiplague, antiplaque, antipodean, apartments, appareling, apparently, appearance, appellants, appendages, appendants, appertains, appliances, aquaplaned, aquaplaner, aquaplanes, asparagine, asperating, biparental, campaigned, campaigner, campaniles, cantaloupe, catnappers, champagnes, chapfallen, deadpanned, deadpanner, decapodans, elecampane, emancipate, esplanades, expandable, floatplane, frangipane, heptagonal, hypermania, inapparent, intraplate, jackanapes, knapsacked, lagniappes, landscaped, landscaper, landscapes, leadplants, manipulate, marchpanes, mascarpone, melphalans, menopausal, mercaptans, nameplates, neoplasias, orphanages, pacemaking, paganizers, palatinate, palavering, pancreases, pancreatic, pancreatin, pandanuses, panhandled, panhandler, panhandles, paniculate, pantalones, papaverine, paraffined, paramagnet, paramnesia, pardonable, parenchyma, parentages, parentally, parenteral, parliament, parsonages, pasquinade, passionate, patentable, paternally, patronages, penetralia, pentagonal, pentagrams, pentahedra, pericrania, phalangeal, phalangers, phanerogam, phantasied, phantasies, pharyngeal, phenacaine, placentals, planeloads, planetaria, plasmagene, plateauing, pleasances, pleasanter, pleasantly, pleasantry, praenomina, praetorian, prearrange, prenatally, rampancies, readapting, reparation, sailplaned, sailplaner, sailplanes, sandpapers, sandpapery, seamanship, separating, separation, spacebands, suprarenal, sweatpants, synalephas, synaloepha, tailplanes, transeptal, transshape, unapparent, unappeased, unpassable, unplayable, unpleasant, wapentakes.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.