Well attestedNamed from the place
Pierian spring
noun · first attested 18th century
Inspiration is a spring in northern Greece.
The source of poetic inspiration.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 18th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Pieria
- In English
Pierian spring
Pieria, on the slopes of Olympus, was held sacred to the Muses. Pope's line about drinking deep of it fixed the phrase in English.
Greece
All 29 entries 28 more words from Greece
marathonThe long race is named for a plain in Attica.MarathoncurrantThe baking fruit is a worn-down word for Corinth.CorinthmagnetThe lodestone is named for Magnesia.MagnesiaacademyEvery academy is named for a grove outside Athens.AkademeialaconicA tight-lipped style is named for Sparta’s region.SpartaOlympicThe games are named for a sanctuary, not for Mount Olympus.OlympiaatticThe room under the roof is named for the region around Athens.AtticaBoeotianAn insult preserved from one Greek region's rivalry with another.Boeotia