satyr means A sylvan deity or demigod, male companion of Pan or Dionysus, represented as part man and part goat, and characterized by riotous merriment and lasciviousness, sometimes pictured with a perpetual erection.
satyr is pronounced /ˈsætə/.
Why “satyr” is a great word
A sylvan demigod, part man and part goat, embodying riotous merriment and untamed lust, later extended to describe a lecherous man. From Middle English, from Old French satyre, from Latin satyrus, from Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos), of uncertain ultimate origin. Unlike the faun—a Roman pastoral spirit of milder, more bucolic aspect—or the centaur—a creature of horse and human fused for martial wildness—the satyr is explicitly goatish, devoted to the frantic rhythms of wine, dance, and pursuit without destination. It is the reek of goatskin and crushed grapes, the discordant shriek of the panpipes in a dark wood, the sudden laughter that turns crude; a reminder that the oldest forms of worship are those of frenzy and abandon, and that some hungers persist precisely because they cannot be satisfied.
Etymology
From French satyre, from Latin satyrus, from Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos).
noun
- A sylvan deity or demigod, male companion of Pan or Dionysus, represented as part man and part goat, and characterized by riotous merriment and lasciviousness, sometimes pictured with a perpetual erection.e.g.“Rough Satyrs danced; and Fauns, with cloven heel, / From the glad sound would not be absent long.
male variation of nymphs” — 1637, John Milton, Lycidas:
- Synonym of faun.
- A lecherous man.
- Any of various butterflies of the nymphalid subfamily Satyrinae, having brown wings marked with eyelike spots; a meadow brown.
- The orangutan.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- satyrlike 72% match — Resembling or characteristic of a satyr. vs satyr →
- faun 67% match — A woodland creature with pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat and a fondness for unrestrained revelry. vs satyr →
- panisc 66% match — The god Pan, represented as a satyr. vs satyr →
- sileni 65% match — A group of minor deities or demigods similar to fauns or satyrs. vs satyr →
- aegipan 60% match — A goat-like creature resembling a satyr, sometimes portrayed as having a fish's tail. vs satyr →
- satyrism 60% match — An extremely high or excessive libido in men or boys. vs satyr →
- satyriatic 59% match — Having or relating to satyriasis. vs satyr →
- dionysian 58% match — Of or pertaining to Dionysus. vs satyr →