rhapsodist

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a reciter or interpreter of epic or other poetry; a rhapsode

   The rhapsodist performed a passage from Homer before the festival crowd.

2. 2
   noun

   a person who speaks or writes with extravagant enthusiasm

   The travel writer becomes a rhapsodist whenever she describes the coast.

From Greek rhapsōidos ("reciter of epic poetry") with the English suffix -ist. The Greek form combines rhaptein ("to stitch") with ōidē ("song"), suggesting a performer who stitches verses together; the enthusiastic-speaker sense developed from rhapsodize.

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