epithalamium
/ˌɛpɪθəˈleɪmɪəm
/noun (plural epithalamiums or epithalamia /ˌɛpɪθəˈleɪmɪə/)
A song or poem celebrating a marriage.The Visigoths had openly aped the imperial court when King Athaulf married Galla Placidia in 411, a marriage celebrated by an official epithalamium (marriage-poem) delivered by a senator....
- In this case, the five repetitions of ‘joy’ even have a possible numerological significance, since five is a ‘nuptial number’ frequently used in epithalamia.
- If we take Byron seriously, we can turn the mask of tragedy into the mask of comedy only by replacing the elegy with the epithalamium.
Derivatives
epithalamic
Origin
Late 16th century: via Latin from Greek epithalamion, from epi 'upon' + thalamos 'bridal chamber'.