Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- A mountain, about 2,457 m (8,061 ft) high, of central Greece north of the Gulf of Corinth. In ancient times it was sacred to Apollo, Dionysus, and the Muses. Delphi was at the foot of the mountain.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A mountain in central Greece, in mythology sacred to the Muses.
- noun Hence, figuratively The abiding-place of poetry and home of poets: sometimes used as a name for a collection of poems or of elegant literature.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Anc. Geog. & Gr. Myth.) A mountain in Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and famous for a temple of Apollo and for the Castalian spring.
- noun (Bot.) See under
Grass , andParnassia . - noun [Colloq.] to write poetry.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun Name of a mountain in central
Greece ; according to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred toApollo and the Coryciannymphs , and was the home of theMuses . - proper noun figuratively Home of
poetry ,literature , andlearning .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (Greek mythology) a mountain in central Greece where (according to Greek mythology) the Muses lived; known as the mythological home of music and poetry
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate.
Terry Gilliam and Verne Troyer Video Interviews THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS – Collider.com 2010
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Unable to stop gambling with Mr. Nick aka the Devil (Tom Waits), Parnassus is about to lose his most valued treasure: his daughter, Valentina.
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Review – Collider.com 2009
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In Asia we find that the most numerous and greatest rivers flow from the mountain called Parnassus, admittedly the greatest of all mountains towards the south-east.
Meteorology 2002
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Within twenty miles of Highfield was another station, called Parnassus, belonging to Mr. Edward Lee, our Mr. Lee's brother.
Five Years in New Zealand 1859 to 1864 Robert B. Booth
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He wandered for many days till he came in sight of a high mountain which the people told him was called Parnassus, and on the steep side of this mountain was the famous city of Delphi for which he was looking.
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He wheedled himself into Mrs. Mifflin's good graces, and ended by putting us both into a book, called Parnassus on Wheels, which has been rather a trial to me.
The Haunted Bookshop 1918
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Then followed, in 1875, Emerson's collection entitled Parnassus, and the next year Whittier's Songs of Three Centuries.
A Word about Anthologies. Lounsbury, Thomas R Thomas R. Lounsbury 1912
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And I know not surely whether the mountain was called Parnassus,
The Poems of Henry Van Dyke Henry Van Dyke 1892
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Certainly our common grass of Parnassus, which is no grass at all, never starred the meadows round about the home of the
Wild Flowers Worth Knowing Neltje Blanchan 1891
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In Eastwell Park there was a hill, called Parnassus, to which she was particularly partial, and to this she commonly turned her footsteps.
Gossip in a Library Edmund Gosse 1888
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