Where does “lyricist” come from?
Lyricist comes from English lyric plus the suffix -ist, from Latin lyricus meaning "of or pertaining to the lyre," from Ancient Greek λυρικός, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -kos.
lyricist (English): A person who writes the lyrics of a song
Definitions
- A person who writes the lyrics of a song
Ancestry of “lyricist”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | lyric | Of, or relating to a type of poetry that... |
| 2 | French | lyrique | lyric; lyrical; lyric poet |
| 3 | Latin | lyricus | Of or pertaining to the lute; lyric; lyric poet |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | λυρικός | Of or pertaining to the lyre; lyrist; lyric poet |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -ικός | of or pertaining to, in the manner of; -ic |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -κός | forms adjectives with the sense of 'of or... |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | *-kos | — |