paean

or pe·an

[ pee-uhn ]

noun

1. a song of praise, joy, or triumph.
2. a formal expression of high praise, as a poem, movie, or monument:

   This documentary is another paean to the mystical power and beauty of the ocean.

3. an elaborate or excessive expression of praise; panegyric:

   His restaurant review is just a long and not very interesting paean to his favorite ethnic cuisine.

4. a hymn of invocation or thanksgiving to Apollo or some other ancient Greek deity.

paean

/ ˈpiːən /

noun

1. a hymn sung in ancient Greece in invocation of or thanksgiving to a deity
2. any song of praise
3. enthusiastic praise

   the film received a paean from the critics

Other Words From

• pae·an·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of paean¹

First recorded in 1585–95; from Latin Paeān, Paeōn “a Greek god, especially Apollo in his capacity as healer; a religious or festive hymn, addressed to Apollo or another god,” from Greek Paiā́n, Paiḗōn, Paiṓn “choral song, hymn, especially to Apollo,” personified as “the divine physician, Apollo”

Word History and Origins

Origin of paean¹

C16: via Latin from Greek paiān hymn to Apollo, from his title Paiān, denoting the physician of the gods

Example Sentences

From the outset, we didn’t want this issue to be a paean to doomerism.

From MIT Technology Review

Todd Haynes’ bittersweet love story, impeccably adapted by Phyllis Nagy from Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt, is a rich, glorious paean to New York in the 1950s.

From Time

It becomes a paean to writing like you’re running out of time and living like there’s no day but today.

From Vox

His paean to the “unimaginable power” of the prosecutor feels incomplete without any acknowledgment of how this mission can go awry or how that power is experienced by those on the receiving end.

From Washington Post

If the point was to create a paean to mediocrity, then Linklater has made maybe the definitive work on the subject.

From The Daily Beast

He spoke movingly about his parents, got a rousing response to every paean to business success and American values.

From The Daily Beast

Shockingly, this paean to the good old days did not prevail.

From The Daily Beast

A paean to the lack of “personal ambition” in the American armed forces?

From The Daily Beast

In its modern origins California was paean to progress in the best sense of the word.

From The Daily Beast

Its history, as composed by its own citizens, is one long paean of praise.

From Project Gutenberg

The news spread like wildfire, and a great paean of triumph went up from a thousand throats.

From Project Gutenberg

Shall I not follow many an illustrious example and sing my modest paean in her praise?

From Project Gutenberg

If Father Roland had known, he would have uttered a paean of joy.

From Project Gutenberg

Senator Whitten then launched into a paean of praise for the ancient art of preparing food.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hymn