Terpsichore

[Gr., from terpō, fut. terpsō to delight; and choros =dancing.] 1. Cla . Antiq .: One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over dancing, of which she was reckoned the inventre , and in which, as her name intimates, she took delight. To her was sometimes ascribed the invention of the cithara, rather than to Mercury. She is represented as a young virgin crowned with laurel, and holding in her hands a musical instrument. 2. Astron .: [ASTEROID, 81.]