woodland deity, companion of Bacchus, late 14c., from L. satyrus, from Gk. satyros, of unknown origin. In pre-Roman Gk. art, a man-like being with the tail and ears of a horse; the modern conception of a being part man, part goat, is from Roman sculptors, who seem to have assimilated them to the fauns of native mythology. In some Eng. bibles used curiously to translate Heb. se'irim, a type of hairy monster superstitiously believed to inhabit deserts.