Hippocrene
[HIP-ə-kreen]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: Greek, early 17th century
1.
Used to refer to poetic or literary inspiration.
Examples of Hippocrene in a sentence
"Charles wrote poetry in the morning, using the early light as his hippocrene."
"Full of hippocrene, Vanmala sat down to write what she hoped was a masterpiece."
About Hippocrene
The term came directly into English from the Greek “Hippokrēnē,” referring to the legend of Pegasus’ hoof opening a fountain spring on Mount Helicon, which was sacred to Greek Muses. Because “hippos” means “horse” and “krēnē” means “fountain,” the literal translation of “Hippokrēnē” is “fountain of the horse.”
Did you Know?
“Hippocrene” refers to a particular fountain that was sacred to the Greek Muses, so most uses of the adjective treat it as a sort of poetic inspiration that can be drunk like water from a spring. Accordingly, to have “drunk hippocrene” means to have been filled with creative inspiration.
