anthem

English

Etymology

From Middle English anteme, from Old English antefn, antefen and Old French antiene, anteine, anteivne, from Latin antiphōna, from Ancient Greek ἀντίφωνα (antíphōna), from ἀντί (antí, “over against”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”). Doublet of antiphon and ant'em.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæn.θəm/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈæn.təm/
• Rhymes: -ænθəm

Noun

anthem (plural anthems)

1. (archaic) Antiphon.
2. A choral or vocal composition, often with a religious or political lyric.

   The school's anthem sang of its many outstanding qualities, and it was hard to keep a straight face while singing.

3. A hymn of praise or loyalty.

   The choir sang a selection of Christmas anthems at the service just before the big day.

4. (informal) A very popular song or track.
   • 2003, Peter Buckley, The rough guide to rock:

     In May 2000, they even finally cracked the UK top ten when they teamed up with Paul Van Dyk on the trance anthem "The Riddle"...

Derived terms

• anthemic
• apartheid anthem
• flag anthem
• national anthem

 

Descendants

• → Welsh: anthem

Translations

national anthem

• Albanian: himn (sq) m
• Arabic: نَشِيد m (našīd), نَشِيد وَطَنِيّ (našīd waṭaniyy)
• Armenian: հիմն (hy) (himn), օրհներգ (hy) (ōrhnerg)
• Azerbaijani: himn (az)
• Belarusian: гімн m (himn)
• Bengali: তরানা (bn) (torana)
• Bulgarian: химн (bg) m (himn)
• Burmese: နိုင်ငံတော်သီချင်း (my) (nuingngamtausihkyang:), အမျိုးသားသီချင်း (my) (a.myui:sa:sihkyang:)
• Catalan: himne (ca) m
• Central Kurdish: سرود (srud)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 國歌／国歌 (gwok³ go¹)

  Hokkien: 國歌／国歌 (zh-min-nan) (kok-koa)

  Mandarin: 國歌／国歌 (zh) (guógē)

• Czech: národní hymna f, hymna (cs) f
• Danish: nationalsang (da) c
• Dutch: volkslied (nl) n
• Erzya: инеморо (ińemoro), гимна (gimna)
• Esperanto: himno (eo)
• Estonian: hümn
• Faroese: tjóðsangur m
• Finnish: hymni (fi), kansallislaulu (fi)
• French: hymne (fr) m
• Galician: himno (gl) m
• Georgian: ჰიმნი (ka) (himni), ეროვნული ჰიმნი (erovnuli himni), სახელმწიფო ჰიმნი (saxelmc̣ipo himni)
• German: Hymne (de) f, Nationalhymne (de) f
• Hebrew: הִמְנוֹן (he) m (himnon)
• Hindi: गान (hi) m (gān)
• Hungarian: himnusz (hu)
• Icelandic: þjóðsöngur m
• Ido: himno (io)
• Irish: amhrán náisiúnta m
• Italian: inno nazionale, inno (it) m
• Japanese: 国歌 (ja) (こっか, kokka)
• Kalmyk: частр (çastr)
• Kazakh: әнұран (kk) (änūran)
• Khmer: ភ្លេងជាតិ (phleing ciət)
• Korean: 국가(國歌) (ko) (gukga)
• Kyrgyz: гимн (gimn)
• Lao: ເພງຊາດ (phēng sāt)
• Latvian: himna f
• Lithuanian: himnas m
• Macedonian: химна f (himna)
• Malay: lagu kebangsaan
• Manx: arrane ashoonagh m
• Maori: ngaringari
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: сүлд дуулал (süld duulal)

• Northern Kurdish: sirûd (ku)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nasjonalsang m

• Pashto: ملهم m (malhám), ملي سرود (ps) m (meli sarúd), سرود (ps) m (sorúd)
• Persian: سرود (fa) (sorud)
• Polish: hymn (pl) m
• Portuguese: hino (pt) m
• Romanian: imn național n, imn (ro) n
• Russian: гимн (ru) m (gimn)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хи̑мна f

  Roman: hȋmna (sh) f

• Slovak: hymna (sk) f
• Slovene: himna (sl) f
• Spanish: himno (es) m
• Swedish: nationalsång (sv) c
• Tajik: мадҳия (tg) (madhiya), суруд (tg) (surud)
• Thai: เพลงชาติ (th) (pleeng-châat)
• Turkish: marş (tr)
• Turkmen: gimn
• Ukrainian: гімн m (himn), сла́вень m (slávenʹ)
• Uyghur: گىمن (gimn), دۆلەت شېئىرى (dölet shë'iri)
• Uzbek: gimn (uz)
• Vietnamese: quốc ca (vi) (國歌)
• Walloon: ime (wa) m
• Welsh: anthem f

hymn of praise or loyalty

• Armenian: օրհներգ (hy) (ōrhnerg)
• Belarusian: гімн m (himn)
• Bulgarian: химн (bg) m (himn)
• Catalan: himne (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聖歌／圣歌 (zh) (shènggē)

• Czech: hymna (cs) f
• Dutch: strijdlied (nl) n
• Finnish: hymni (fi)
• French: hymne (fr) f
• Galician: himno (gl) m
• Georgian: ჰიმნი (ka) (himni)
• Hindi: भजन (hi) m (bhajan)
• Hungarian: himnusz (hu)
• Irish: aintiún (ga) m
• Italian: inno (it)
• Japanese: 聖歌 (ja) (せいか, seika)
• Korean: 성가(聖歌) (ko) (seongga)
• Manx: anthym m
• Maori: ngaringari
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hymne (no) m

• Polish: hymn (pl) m
• Portuguese: hino (pt) m
• Romanian: imn (ro) n
• Russian: гимн (ru) m (gimn)
• Spanish: himno (es) m
• Swedish: hymn (sv) c, lovsång (sv) c
• Ukrainian: гімн m (himn)

very popular track or song

• Galician: himno (gl) m
• Portuguese: hino (pt) m

Verb

anthem (third-person singular simple present anthems, present participle antheming, simple past and past participle anthemed)

1. (transitive, poetic) To celebrate with anthems.
   • 1819 (date written), John Keats, “Fancy”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, page 124:

     [T]hou shalt hear / Distant harvest-carols clear; / Rustle of the reaped corn; / Sweet birds antheming the morn: [...]

Anagrams

• Hemant, Manthe, hetman, mentha, nameth, the man

Welsh

Etymology

From English anthem, from Middle English anteme, from Old English antefn, antefen and Old French antiene, anteine, anteivne, from Latin antiphōna, from Ancient Greek ἀντίφωνα (antíphōna).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈanθɛm/

Noun

anthem f (plural anthemau)

1. anthem

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
anthem	unchanged	unchanged	hanthem
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.