paean

noun

pae·​an ˈpē-ən How to pronounce paean (audio)
1
: a joyous song or hymn of praise, tribute, thanksgiving, or triumph
unite their voices in a great paean to libertyEdward Sackville-West
2
: a work that praises or honors its subject : encomium, tribute
wrote a paean to the queen on her 50th birthday

Did you know?

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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. 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

Word History

Etymology

Latin, hymn of thanksgiving especially addressed to Apollo, from Greek paian, paiōn, from Paian, Paiōn, epithet of Apollo in the hymn

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of paean was in 1589

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Cite this Entry

“Paean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paean. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

paean

noun
pae·​an ˈpē-ən How to pronounce paean (audio)
: a song of joy, praise, or triumph
a paean to youth

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