calypso en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- kəlĭpʹsō (US)
- /kəˈlɪp.səʊ/ (UK)
- /kəˈlɪp.soʊ/ (US)
- ku̇lĭpʹsō (UK)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Originally Trinidad English, an alteration of kaiso, perhaps ultimately of African origin; Allsopp 1996 suggests Ibibio ka iso (“come on”), used to urge dancers on. The spelling reflects a later folk-etymological assimilation with the mythological name Calypso.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) A style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to the mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles and Venezuela by the mid-20th century.
'How you does live, Mr. Wordsworth?' I asked him one day. He said, 'You mean how I get money?' When I nodded, he laughed in a crooked way. He said, 'I sing calypsoes in the calypso season.' 'And that last you the rest of the year?' 'It is enough.'
1959, V. S. Naipaul, “B. Wordsworth”, in Miguel Street
- (countable, uncountable) A song in this style of music.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| calypsoes | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| calypsos | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
gospelypso · calypsonian · calypsolike · rapso · buffalypso · calypso-like · calypso coffee · soca · cadence-lypso
Relateds
Translations (10)
sk kalypso (type of music and dance) · fi calypso (type of music and dance) · sv calypso (type of music and dance) · ca calipso (type of music and dance) · bg кали́псо (type of music and dance) · eo kalipso (type of music and dance) · it calipso (type of music and dance) · ro calipso (type of music and dance) · es calipso (type of music and dance) · ru кали́псо (type of music and dance)