On certain fixed dates throughout the year, the ancient Greeks would
come together for religious meetings. Such gatherings could range from
hometown affairs to great national assemblies, but large or small, the
meeting was called a
panēgyris. That name comes from
pan, meaning "all," and
agyris,
meaning "assembly." At those assemblies, speakers provided the main
entertainment,
and they delivered glowing orations extolling the praises
of present civic leaders and reliving the past glories of Greek cities.
To the Greeks, those laudatory speeches were
panēgyrikos, which means "of or for a
panēgyris." Latin speakers ultimately transformed
panēgyrikos into the noun
panegyricus, and English speakers adapted that Latin term to form
panegyric.
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