PYRRHIC


Meaning of PYRRHIC in English

~ 1 [ 'pɪrɪk ]

■ adjective (of a victory) won at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor.

Origin

C19: from the name of Pyrrhus , a Greek king who invaded Italy and defeated the Romans in 279 BC but sustained heavy losses, + -ic .

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~ 2 [ 'pɪrɪk ]

■ noun a metrical foot of two short or unaccented syllables.

■ adjective written in or based on ~s.

Origin

C17: via L. from Gk purrhikhios (pous) '~ (foot)', the metre of a song accompanying a war dance, named after Purrhikhos , inventor of the dance.

Concise Oxford English vocab.      Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка.