Definition of "thyrsus" [thyr•sus]

• Mythology A staff tipped with a pine cone and twined with ivy, carried by Dionysus, Dionysian revelers, and satyrs. (noun)
• Botany A thyrse. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The thyrsus was a long staff, carried by Bacchus, and by the Satyrs and Bacchanalians engaged in the worship of the God of the grape."
• "As she worshipped the god she typically held a thyrsus, a giant fennel staff topped with a pinecone."
• "Satyrs often carry the thyrsus: the rod of Dionysus tipped with a pine cone."