briseis
/bɹaɪˈsiːɪs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.72 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A legendary figure who features in the Iliad; a princess granted as concubine to Achilles after the sacking of her city, Lyrnessus, before the beginning of the story.
name
The minor planet 655 Briseïs.
Example Sentences
- "So Akhilleus calls an assembly — any oddness in his doing so at this juncture is mitigated by Thetis' instructions (34–6) — and much of the Book is occupied with the speeches of reconciliation and the handing over of Briseis and Agamemnon's gifts."
- "1993 [Random House (Knopf)], Tim Parks (translator), Roberto Calasso, The Marriage Of Cadmus And Harmony, 1994, Random House (Vintage), page 90, And the Iliad was founded on a play of words, the substitution of a couple of letters in a name. Briseis, Chryseis. The bone of contention that triggers the poem is Briseis kallipárēos, Briseis “of the lovely cheeks”: Agamemnon wants her exchanged with, or substituted for, Chryseis kallipárēos, Chryseis “of the lovely cheeks." In Greek only two letters separate the two girls."
- "The character of Briseis and the story of her relationship with Achilles stand in the background of the entire Iliad: the poem opens, literally, with Achilles' anger, which at 1.298–9 turns out to be caused by Briseis’ abduction on Agamemnon's order, and ends shortly after Achilles sleeps with her once again in his tent (24.675-6)."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Βρισηΐς
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /bɹaɪˈsiːɪs/
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in People.
Inflected Forms
Briseida (alternative)
Briseide (alternative)
Briseïs (alternative)