cothurnusn.
/kəʊˈθəːnəs/ a. A thick-soled boot reaching to the middle of the leg, worn by tragic actors in the ancient Athenian drama; a buskin.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > costume > ancient Greek or Roman
buskin1570
sock1597
mask1600
cothurn1606
cothurno1611
cothurnal1626
cothurnus1728
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Sophocles is said to have invented the Cothurnus.
1798 M. Edgeworth & R. L. Edgeworth Pract. Educ. II. xiii. 408 The actor on the stage is admired whilst he is elevated by the cothurnus.
1820 W. Tooke tr. Lucian Lucian of Samosata I. 551 Think of a tragic actor, who should stand with one foot in a high cothurnus, while the other was quite unshod.
1880 19th Cent. 7 60 The Cothurnus..equalised the stature of the actors.
b. figurative. As characteristic of tragedy, or of a tragic and elevated style.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > [noun] > tragedy > tragic style
tragical1567
buskin1579
tragic1674
cothurnus1852
cothurn1856
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. i. 26 She too wears the mask and the cothurnus and speaks to measure.
1884 Farrar Messages of Bks. xv. 300 St. Paul cannot always wear the majestic cothurnus, yet his lightest words are full of dignity.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.1728