- Alexandrine
- verse line, 1580s, said to be from O.Fr. Roman d'Alexandre, a poem about Alexander the Great that was popular in the Middle Ages, which used a 12-syllable line of 6 feet (the Fr. heroic verse); it was used in Eng. to vary the heroic verse of 5 feet. The name also sometimes is said to be from Alexandre de Paris, medieval Fr. poet, who used such a line (and who also wrote one of the popular Alexander the Great poems).
- epic
- 1589, from L. epicus, from Gk. epikos, from epos "word, story, poem." Extended sense of "grand, heroic" first recorded in Eng. 1731. The noun meaning "an epic poem" is first recorded 1706.
- ottava rima
- 1820, from It., "eight-lined stanza," lit. "eighth rhyme," from ottava "eighth" (see octave). A stanza of eight 11-syllable lines, rhymed a b a b a b c c, but in the Byronic variety, they are English heroic lines of 10 syllables.
- virago
- late 14c., "man-like or heroic woman," from L. virago, from vir "man" (see virile). Ælfric (c.1000), following Vulgate, used it in Gen. ii.23 (KJV = woman):
Beo hire nama Uirago, þæt is, fæmne, forðan ðe heo is of hire were genumen.
- Bayard
- generic or mock-heroic name for a horse, late 14c., from O.Fr. Baiard, name of the bay-colored magic steed given by Charlemagne to Renaud in the legends, from O.Fr. baiart "bay-colored" (see bay (4)). The name also was used attributively of gentlemen of courage and integrity, in this sense from Pierre du Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473-1524), Fr. knight celebrated as Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche; however the meaning deteriorated in later times till it came to denote blind recklessness and even actual blindness. The surname is perhaps in reference to hair color.
- doughty
- O.E. dohtig "competent, good, valiant," from dyhtig "strong," related to dugan "to be fit, be able, be strong," and influenced by its p.p., dohte. All from P.Gmc. *duhtiz- (cf. M.H.G. tühtec, Ger. tüchtig, M.Du. duchtich), from PIE *dheugh- "to be fit, be of use, proper" (cf. Ger. Tugend "virtue," Gk. teukhein "to make ready," Ir. dual "becoming, fit," Rus. duzij "strong, robust"). Rare after 17c.; in deliberately archaic or mock-heroic use since c.1800. If it had survived, its modern form would be dighty.
- individual
- "a single object or thing," c.1600, from M.L. individualis, from L. individuus "indivisible," from in- "not" + dividuus "divisible," from dividere "divide." Colloquial sense of "person" is attested from 1742. As an adj., used from early 15c. meaning "one and indivisible" (with ref. to the Trinity). Sense of "single, separate" is 1610s; meaning "intended for one person" is from 1889.
"A majority can never replace the individual. ... Just as a hundred fools do not make one wise man, a heroic decision is not likely to come from a hundred cowards." [Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf," 1933]
- minstrel
- early 13c., from O.Fr. menestral "entertainer, servant," from M.L. ministralis "servant, jester, singer," from L.L. ministerialem (nom. ministerialis) "imperial household officer, one having an official duty," from ministerialis (adj.) "ministerial," from L. ministerium (see ministry). The connecting notion is via the jester, etc., as a court position. Specific sense of "musician" developed in O.Fr., but in English until 16c. the word was used of anyone (singers, storytellers, jugglers, buffoons) whose profession was to entertain patrons. Only in 18c. was the word limited, in a historical sense, to "medieval singer of heroic or lyric poetry who accompanied himself on a stringed instrument." Reference to blackface music acts in U.S. is from 1843.
- sonnet
- 1557 (in title of Surrey's poems), from Fr. sonnet (1543) or directly from It. sonetto, lit. "little song," from O.Prov. sonet "song," dim. of son "song, sound," from L. sonus "sound" (see sound (n.1)). Originally in Eng. also "any short lyric poem;" precise meaning is from It., where Petrarch (14c.) developed a scheme of an eight-line stanza (rhymed abba abba) followed by a six-line stanza (cdecde, the Italian sestet, or cdcdcd, the Sicilian sestet). Shakespeare developed the English Sonnet for his rhyme-poor native tongue: three Sicilian quatrains followed by a heroic couplet (ababcdcdefefgg).
- hero
- late 14c., "man of superhuman strength or courage," from L. heros "hero," from Gk. heros "demi-god" (a variant singular of which was heroe), originally "defender, protector," from PIE base *ser- "to watch over, protect" (cf. L. servare "to save, deliver, preserve, protect"). Sense of "chief male character in a play, story, etc." first recorded 1697. Fem. form heroine first attested 1650s, from L. heroina, from Gk. heroine. First record of hero-worship is from 1774. Heroic verse (1610s), decasyllabic iambic, is from It. Hero, the New York term for a sandwich elsewhere called submarine, grinder, poor boy (New Orleans), or hoagie (Philadelphia), is 1955, origin unknown, perhaps folk etymology of Gk. gyro, a type of sandwich.
- art (n.)
- early 13c., "skill as a result of learning or practice," from O.Fr. art, from L. artem (nom. ars) "art, skill, craft," from PIE *ar-ti- (cf. Skt. rtih "manner, mode;" Gk. arti "just," artios "complete;" Armenian arnam "make;" Ger. art "manner, mode"), from base *ar- "fit together, join" (see arm (1)). In M.E. usually with sense of "skill in scholarship and learning" (c.1300), especially in the seven sciences, or liberal arts. This sense remains in Bachelor of Arts, etc. Meaning "human workmanship" (as opposed to nature) is from late 14c. Sense of "cunning and trickery" first attested c.1600. Meaning "skill in creative arts" is first recorded 1620; esp. of painting, sculpture, etc., from 1660s. Broader sense of the word remains in artless (1580s). As an adj. meaning "produced with conscious artistry (as opposed to popular or folk) it is attested from 1890, possibly from infl. of Ger. kunstlied "art song" (cf. art film, 1960; art rock, c.1970). Fine arts, "those which appeal to the mind and the imagination" first recorded 1767. Expression art for art's sake (1836) translates Fr. l'art pour l'art. First record of art critic is from 1865. Arts and crafts "decorative design and handcraft" first attested in the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in London, 1888.
"Supreme art is a traditional statement of certain heroic and religious truths, passed on from age to age, modified by individual genius, but never abandoned. The revolt of individualism came because the tradition had become degraded, or rather because a spurious copy had been accepted in its stead." [William Butler Yeats]