corypheus
corypheus noun: the conductor or leader of the dramatic chorus in Ancient Greece.
Noun
corypheus (plural corypheuses or coryphei)
- The conductor or leader of the dramatic chorus in Ancient Greece.
- In this work Homer and Virgil already appear beside Cicero and Plato as doctrinal authorities. The four corypheuses are infallible; any contradiction between them is wholly out of the question.1953, Ernst Robert Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, page 443
- The chief or leader of a party or interest.
- That noted corypheus of the Independent faction.a. 1716, Robert South, Discourse
- Let us blithely hail, throughout the whole universe, these disciples of Christ, these two Coryphei, Peter and Paul : O Peter, the Foundation-stone and Rock ; and thou also, O Paul, Vessel of Election.1800, Prosper Guéranger, translated by Laurence Shepherd, The Liturgical Year: The Time after Pentecost, volume 3, page 443
- Synonyms:
- coryphe
Examples of corypheus in a sentence
- Then Corypheus Marat, author of the Friend of the People, constantly denounced him as the traitor Lafayette.1824, John Foster, A Sketch of the Tour of General Lafayette, on His Late Visit to the United States, 1824, page 27:
- I was about to call him our corypheus; but he will better be described as our boxing-master whom we—I particularly—used to face to be severely pummelled.1940, Charles Sanders Peirce, Philosophical Writings of Peirce, page 270:
Synonyms of corypheus
Forms of corypheus
| plural | corypheuses |
|---|---|
| plural | coryphei |
| alternative form | coryphæus |
| alternative form | coryphaeus |
| alternative form | koryphaios |
Origin of corypheus
From Latin coryphaeus, from Ancient Greek κορυφαῖος (koruphaîos, “leader”), from κορυφή (koruphḗ, “head”).
Questions about corypheus
- What does corypheus mean?
- Corypheus means the conductor or leader of the dramatic chorus in Ancient Greece.
- How do you use corypheus in a sentence?
- Then Corypheus Marat, author of the Friend of the People, constantly denounced him as the traitor Lafayette.
- What part of speech is corypheus?
- Corypheus is a noun.
- What is the plural of corypheus?
- The plural of corypheus is corypheuses.
Words near corypheus in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: corypheus (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “corypheus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/corypheus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.