The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cothurn \Co"thurn\ (k?"th?rn), n. [L. cothurnus, Gr. ????. Cf. Cothurnus.] A buskin anciently used by tragic actors on the stage; hence, tragedy in general.
The moment had arrived when it was thought that the
mask and the cothurn might be assumed with effect.
--Motley.
Wiktionary
n. A buskin anciently worn by tragic actors on the stage.
Usage examples of "cothurn".
He wore the warrior's garb of the southlands, a shirt of metallic silver scales, short thigh-length trousers of some shiny, silken material, cothurns on his feet.
He stiffened, stared defiantly back, and swept his own gaze insolently over her body from the midnight hair to the diminutive cothurns on her feet.
Instead of the cothurns she wore when on the march, she had slipped her feet into tiny high-heeled sandals that were reminiscent of the footgear he had seen in ancient pictures.
When at length the fateful march of the cothurns was stayed by the single pause in the play, and Darrow had led Miss Viner out on the balcony overhanging the square before the theatre, he turned to see if she shared his feelings.