Calypso Definition

Origin of Calypso

• Probably alteration (influenced by Calypso in reference to the nymph's island home) of Caribbean English kaliso variant of kariso variant of kaiso bravo (shout of approval for a Calypsonian's performance), Calypso music from ka iso! shout of encouragement with which West Indian slaves accompanied singers singing satirical songs about plantation owners and overseers from Efik ka isu go on (imperative form) (from ka go, advance) (isu face, front, forward) and its Ibibio equivalent kaa iso

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

• 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.

  From Wiktionary

• Latin Calypsō from Greek Kalupsō from kaluptein to conceal kel-¹ in Indo-European roots

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

• From Latin, itself from Ancient Greek Καλυψώ (Kalypsō, “name of a sea nymph”)

  From Wiktionary

• Probably Latin Calypsō Calypso Calypso¹

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition