terpsichorean

• terpsichoreal, Terpsichorean, terpsichorial, terpsichorian

From Terpsichore (“the Muse of dance in Greek mythology”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌtəːp.sɪ.kəɹˈiː.ən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌtɝp.sɪ.kəˈɹiː.ən/, /ˌtɝp.sɪˈkɔɹ.iː.ən/

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terpsichorean (comparative more terpsichorean, superlative most terpsichorean)

1. (dance) Of or relating to dancing.
   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 47, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     The pair danced away with great agility and contentment,—first a waltz, then a galop, then a waltz again, until, in the second waltz, they were bumped by another couple who had joined the Terpsichorean choir.

   • 1865, Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend:

     This was such an entirely new view of the Terpsichorean art as socially practised, that Mrs Lammle looked at her young friend in some astonishment

   • 1939, T. S. Eliot, The Song of the Jellicles (in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats)

     They're quiet enough in the morning hours,
     They're quiet enough in the afternoon,
     Reserving their terpsichorean powers
     To dance by the light of the Jellicle Moon.

   • 1970, Monty Python, The Cheese Shop:

     Oh, heaven forbid: I am one who delights in all manifestations of the Terpsichorean muse!

This word is sometimes capitalized, because of its etymology from a proper noun.

terpsichorean (plural terpsichoreans)

1. A person who dances, especially professionally.