amphitryon

See also: Amphitryon

English

Etymology

From Amphitryon, from Ancient Greek Ἀμφιτρύων (Amphitrúōn).

So named from the portrayal of Amphitryon in Molière's comedy (itself based on Plautus's) as giving a great dinner.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æmˈfɪtɹiən/
• Rhymes: -ɪtɹiən

Noun

amphitryon (plural amphitryons)

1. (poetic) A host or entertainer.

   Alternative form: Amphitryon

   • 1875, Paul Marcoy, Travels in South America, page 96:

     Our amphitryon emptied into it six bottles of Bordeaux, four of sherry, and two of rum, sweetening and seasoning the whole with sugar and nutmeg.

   • 1903, The Lady’s Realm‎^[1], volume 14, page 424:

     [...] Lord Glenesk, who is a great amphitryon; [...]

   • 1955, Eugène Herbodeau, Georges Auguste Escoffier, page 115:

     Historical banquets for which he was responsible included that given on the signing of the Locarno Pact—when Sir Austen Chamberlain, the Foreign Minister, congratulated him and presented him before all the ministers assembled to the British Prime Minister, Mr. (later Earl) Baldwin. The supreme homage of a great amphitryon who did not forget that the table serves diplomacy!

   • 1981, International Labor Conference Record of Proceedings‎^[2], pages 15-5:

     A fine and comforting thing it doubtless is every year to behold, as we are beholding now under Mr. Blanchard’s magic wand, the most representative brains and wills of the world’s governments, workers and employers meeting in Geneva, the amiable and hospitable amphitryon of the Swiss Alps.

Derived terms

• amphitryonic

Translations

Translations

• Catalan: amfitrió (ca) m
• French: amphitryon (fr) m, amphitryonne (fr) f
• Greek: αμφιτρύωνας (el) m (amfitrýonas)
• Italian: anfitrione (it) m
• Polish: amfitrion (pl) m
• Portuguese: anfitrião (pt) m
• Romanian: amfitrion (ro) m
• Russian: амфитрио́н (ru) m (amfitrión)
• Spanish: anfitrión (es) m
• Ukrainian: амфітріо́н m (amfitrión)

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.fi.tʁi.jɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

amphitryon m (plural amphitryons, feminine amphitryonne)

1. (poetic) amphitryon, host (at a dinner party)

Derived terms

• amphitryonique

Further reading

• “amphitryon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012