symposiarch
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- noun The master or director of a symposium, especially one in ancient Greece.
- noun A toastmaster.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun In Greek antiquity, the president, director, or manager of a symposium or drinking-party; hence, in modern usage, one who presides at a symposium, or the leading spirit of a convivial gathering: applied somewhat familiarly, chiefly with reference to the meetings of noted wits, or literary or learned persons of recognized consequence; specifically, the toast-master of such banquets.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- noun The master of a feast.
Examples
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Even after connecting himself with the magazine and becoming the symposiarch of the "Noctes," and perhaps the greatest Tory in all broad Scotland, he did not renounce his home among the lakes.
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The symposiarch, or arbiter bibendi, settled the proportions to be used.
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Hawkins, who knew him for so many years, says of him that "as Alexander and Caesar were born for conquest, so was Johnson for the office of a symposiarch, to preside in all conversations"; and he adds, "I never yet saw the man who would venture to contest his right."
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But everybody knew that Aphrodite deemed herself greater than the highest of kings, and therefore Barine ventured to close her doors upon their august symposiarch in a manner which could not fail to be unendurable, not only to him but to all the youth of Alexandria.
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When he paused, loud applause rewarded him, and as it reached him from every part of the spacious room, his deep, resonant voice put him in communication even with the more distant guests, and he might have been taken for the symposiarch or director of the banquet.
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There was a chairman, or symposiarch, appointed by the company to regulate the drinking; and it was his duty to mix the wine in the “mighty bowl.”
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Anacreon here acts the symposiarch, or master of the festival.
The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore Collected by Himself with Explanatory Notes
Note
The word 'symposiarch' comes from Greek roots meaning 'symposium' and 'to rule'.
