— Parnassianism, Parnassism , n.
/pahr nas"ee euhn/ , adj.
1. pertaining to Mount Parnassus.
2. pertaining to poetry.
3. of, pertaining to, or noting a school of French poets of the latter half of the 19th century, characterized chiefly by a belief in art for art's sake, by an emphasis on metrical form, and by the repression of emotive elements: so called from Le Parnasse Contemporain, the title of their first collection of poems, published in 1866.
n.
4. a member of the Parnassian school of French poets.
[ 1635-45; Parnassi ( us ) of PARNASSUS + -AN ]