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orphist

 - 2 dictionary results

Or⋅phism

  [awr-fiz-uhm]
Use orphist in a Sentence
–noun
1. the religious or philosophical system of the Orphic school.
2. (often lowercase) Also called orphic cubism. Fine Arts. a short-lived but influential artistic movement of the early 20th century arising from analytic cubism and the work of Robert Delaunay and having as conspicuous characteristics the use of bold color, the dynamic, prismatic juxtaposition and overlapping of nonobjective geometric forms and planes, and a lightness and lyricism dissociated from its cubist origins.
Compare synchromism.

Origin:
(def. 2) < F orphisme, equiv. to Orph(ée) Orpheus + -isme -ism; term introduced by G. Apollinaire c1913

Related forms:
Orphist, noun, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Or·phism   (ôr'fĭz'əm)   
n.  

  1. An ancient Greek mystery religion arising in the sixth century B.C. from a synthesis of pre-Hellenic beliefs with the Thracian cult of Zagreus and soon becoming mingled with the Eleusinian mysteries and the doctrines of Pythagoras.

  2. often orphism A short-lived movement in early 20th-century painting, derived from cubism but marked by a lyrical style and the use of bold color.


[French orphisme, from Orphée, Orpheus, from Greek Orpheus.]
Or'phist n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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