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According to the poet Homer, the Greek god Apollo sometimes took the guise of Paean, physician to the gods. The earliest musical paeans were hymns of thanksgiving and praise that were dedicated to Apollo. They were sung at events ranging from boisterous festivals to public funerals, and they were the traditional marching songs of armies heading into battle. Over time, the word became generalized, and it is now used for any kind of tribute.
Examples of paean in a Sentence
his retirement party featured many paeans for his long years of service to the company
Recent Examples on the Web
For three-quarters of its pages, the book reads like a paean to dope, a lyrical testament to the transcendent bliss of the first time using, and to the futile effort to recapture it.
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Scott Stossel, The Atlantic, 9 Sep. 2025
Through their on-camera interviews, passion and reverence for cinema comes clearly through, making the film a touching paean to the power of the artform and the people behind it.
—Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
The Brutalist, for all its idiosyncrasies, was a fairly conventional Oscar player—a classically structured paean to a great man.
—Radhika Seth, Vogue, 1 Sep. 2025
Witkoff, a real-estate lawyer by training whose apprenticeship in diplomacy has so far produced neither peace in Gaza nor an end to the war in Ukraine, offered a rousing paean to the boss.
—Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
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Scott Stossel, The Atlantic, 9 Sep. 2025
Through their on-camera interviews, passion and reverence for cinema comes clearly through, making the film a touching paean to the power of the artform and the people behind it.
—Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
The Brutalist, for all its idiosyncrasies, was a fairly conventional Oscar player—a classically structured paean to a great man.
—Radhika Seth, Vogue, 1 Sep. 2025
Witkoff, a real-estate lawyer by training whose apprenticeship in diplomacy has so far produced neither peace in Gaza nor an end to the war in Ukraine, offered a rousing paean to the boss.
—Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paean
Cite this Entry
“Paean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paean. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
paean
noun
pae·an
ˈpē-ən 
: a song of joy, praise, or triumph
a paean to youth
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