Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Thyrsus"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Thyrsus \Thyr"sus\, n.; pl. {Thyrsi}. [L., fr. Gr. ?. Cf.
{Torso}.]
1. A staff entwined with ivy, and surmounted by a pine cone,
or by a bunch of vine or ivy leaves with grapes or
berries. It is an attribute of Bacchus, and of the satyrs
and others engaging in Bacchic rites.
A good to grow on graves As twist about a thyrsus.
--Mrs.
Browning.
In my hand I bear The thyrsus, tipped with fragrant
cones of pine. --Longfellow.
2. (Bot.) A species of inflorescence; a dense panicle, as in
the lilac and horse-chestnut.
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