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also pe·an  (pē′ən)
1. A song of joyful praise or exultation.
2. A fervent expression of joy or praise: "The art ... was a paean to paganism" (Will Durant).
3. An ancient Greek hymn of thanksgiving or invocation, especially to Apollo.

[Latin paeān, hymn of thanksgiving, often addressed to Apollo, from Greek paiān, from Paiā, a title of Apollo.]

pae′an·is′tic (-ĭs′tĭk) adj.


(ˈpiːən) or


1. (Historical Terms) a hymn sung in ancient Greece in invocation of or thanksgiving to a deity
2. any song of praise
3. enthusiastic praise: the film received a paean from the critics.


(ˈpi ən)

a song of praise, joy, thanksgiving, or triumph.
[1535–45; < Latin, song of triumph or thanksgiving addressed to Apollo or another god < Greek paian, paiṓn, orig. an epithet of Apollo]
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.paean - a formal expression of praise
congratulations, extolment, kudos, praise - an expression of approval and commendation; "he always appreciated praise for his work"
2.paean - (ancient Greece) a hymn of praise (especially one sung in ancient Greece to invoke or thank a deity)
hymn, anthem - a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)
antiquity - the historic period preceding the Middle Ages in Europe


noun (Literary)
1. eulogy, tribute, panegyric, hymn of praise, encomium The film is a paean to adolescent love.
2. hymn, anthem, thanksgiving, psalm The piece is a paean of praise for God and his creation.


[ˈpiːən] Nhimno m de alegría
paeans of praisealabanzas fpl


nLobrede f
References in classic literature ?
`Unless Phoebus Apollo should save him from death, or Paean himself who knows the remedies for all things.'
In his eyes was a desire to chant a paean. He kept repeating, "They 've held 'em, by heavens!"
He trembled at the audacity of his thought; but all his soul was singing, and reason, in a triumphant paean, assured him he was right.
And Tarwater would lift his voice in the cackling chant, as he lifted it at the end, when the boat swung in through driving cake- ice and moored to the Dawson City bank, and all waterfront Dawson pricked its ears to hear the triumphant paean: Like Argus of the ancient times, We leave this modern Greece, Tum-tum, tum-tum, tum, tum, tum-tum, To shear the Golden Fleece,
For Zeus who hates the braggart's boast Beheld that gold-bespangled host; As at the goal the paean they upraise, He struck them with his forked lightning blaze.
This is a final paean which Zarathustra sings to Eternity and the marriage- ring of rings, the ring of the Eternal Recurrence.