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satyre

satyr

noun sah-TEER Rare
Arts & Culture Traditions

Origin: Greek satyros, woodland deity

Also means

sex offender

Usage Note

Satyre refers both to the mythological half-man, half-goat companion of Dionysus and, in modern French, to a man who sexually harasses or assaults women — roughly 'pervert' or 'flasher'. It is a homophone of satire (feminine, a literary genre), with which it was historically confused in spelling though the two have unrelated origins.

Examples

"Les satyres accompagnaient Dionysos dans les forêts."

Natural Translation

The satyrs accompanied Dionysus in the forests.

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