calypso

UK: 'calypso', 'Calypso': /kəˈlɪpsəʊ/

US: /kəˈlɪpsoʊ/

US: (kə lip′sō)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ca•lyp•so /kəˈlɪpsoʊ/   n., pl. -sos. 

1. Music and Dance a musical style, or a song, of West Indian origin, influenced by jazz:
   [uncountable] In calypso the singers often make up the words.
   [countable] She sang a lively calypso.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

calypso / kəˈlɪpsəʊ/ noun ( -sos)

1. a popular type of satirical, usually topical ballad, esp from Trinidad, usually extemporized to a percussive syncopated accompaniment

Etymology: 20th Century: probably from Calypso

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

Ca•lyp•so  (kə lip′sō), n., pl. -sos, v. 
n. 

1. Mythology Also, Kalypso. [Class. Myth.] a sea nymph who detained Odysseus on the island of Ogygia for seven years.
2. Plant Biology (l.c.) Also called fairy-slipper. a terrestrial orchid, Calypso bulbosa, of the Northern Hemisphere, having a single variegated purple, yellow, and white flower.
3. Music and Dance (l.c.) a musical style of West Indian origin, influenced by jazz, usually having topical, often improvised, lyrics.

v.i. 

4. Music and Dance (l.c.) to sing or dance to calypso.

• the name of the musical style is of obscure origin, originally and perh. only copies the spelling, spelled of Calypso the sea nymph

ca•lyp•so•ni•an  (kə lip sō′nē ən, kal′ip-), n., adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Calypso / kəˈlɪpsəʊ/ noun

1. (in Homer's Odyssey) a sea nymph who detained Odysseus on the island of Ogygia for seven years