taurokathapsia

/ˌtɔːɹəkəˈθæpsiə/

taurokathapsia means bull-leaping, as depicted in Bronze Age art, especially from Minoan Crete. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

taurokathapsia is pronounced /ˌtɔːɹəkəˈθæpsiə/.

Why “taurokathapsia” is a great word

TAUROKATHAPSIA — [Noun] An ancient Cretan acrobatic ritual in which a performer seizes the horns of a charging bull and uses the animal’s momentum to somersault over its back. From Revived Ancient Greek ταυροκαθάψια (taurokathápsia), a variant of ταυροκάθαψις (taurokáthapsis), from ταῦρος (taûros, "bull") + κάθαψις (káthapsis, "a leaping down upon, a vaulting"). Coined circa 1910 by the archaeologist Arthur Evans, excavator of Knossos. Unlike "tauromachy" (which implies martial, often lethal combat) or "gymnastics" (a generalized athletic discipline), taurokathapsia denotes a precise, sacred choreography of peril. It is the scent of dust and animal heat, the sudden torque of a body in flight against a dark hide, and the silent impact of a landing on packed earth—a fleeting defiance of gravity that was also a communion with the divine.

Etymology

From Revived Ancient Greek ταυροκαθάψια (taurokathápsia), variant of ταυροκάθαψις (taurokáthapsis), from ταῦρος (taûros, “bull”) + κάθαψις (káthapsis). Apparently coined by Arthur Evans, the excavator of Knossos, in ca. 1910.

noun

Bull-leaping, as depicted in Bronze Age art, especially from Minoan Crete.