(ancient Greece) a hymn of praise (especially one sung in ancient Greece to invoke or thank a deity)
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Paean \P[ae]"an\ (p[=e]`an), n. [L. paean, Gr. paia`n, fr. Paia`n the physician of the gods, later, Apollo. Cf. {P[ae]on}, {Peony}.] [Written also {pean}.] 1. An ancient Greek hymn in honor of Apollo as a healing deity, and, later, a song addressed to other deities.
2. Any loud and joyous song; a song of triumph, joy, or praise. --Dryden. ``Public p[ae]ans of congratulation.'' --De Quincey.
3. See {P[ae]on}.
paeon \p[ae]"on\ (p[=e]"[o^]n), n. [L. paeon, Gr. paiw`n a solemn song, also, a p[ae]on, equiv. to paia`n. See {P[ae]an}.] (Anc. Poet.) A foot of four syllables, one long and three short, admitting of four combinations, according to the place of the long syllable. [Written also, less correctly, {p[ae]an}.]
The study, prepared by Mr Robert Harrison of the London-based PA Consulting Group, is not an unqualified paean of praise, though some of the shortcomings it identifies are as much Europe-wide as British.
The book is a paean to the golden days of terrace-fighting in the 1970s.
And if the budding mogul is like thousands of others, he or she will sit down at a home computer and bat out a lengthy paean to that new product or service.
His early works include a paean hymn to black power.