The word Erasmus uses for praise, 'encomium', is simply the Latinized form of the Greek word for a laudatory composition in prose or verse, originally denoting a song for athletic victors. As a literary form the encomium soon became a sophisticated genre used to praise legendary heroes or for purposes of satire or fantasy. Lijster ponderously distinguishes it from the hymn in his commentary, pointing out that hymns are only used for praising gods. Moriae in the Latin title Entomium Moriae is simply a Latin transcription of the genitive of the Greek word for folly. The pun on More's name was of course deliberate.