| cadmium n | |
| [NL, fr. L cadmia zinc oxide, fr. fem. of Gk kadmeios Theban, fr. Kadmos Cadmus, the legendary founder of Thebes] : a bluish-white malleable toxic element | |
| calliope n | |
| [L, fr. Gk Kalliope Calliope, the Greek Muse of epic poetry] : a keyboard musical instrument resembling an organ and consisting of a series of whistles sounded by steam or compressed air | |
| Callisto n | |
| [a nymph attendant of Artemis, punished for a love affair with Zeus by being changed into a bear and slain by Artemis] : one of the moons of Jupiter | |
| Calypso n | |
| [L, a nymph who detained Odysseus on Ogygia for seven years] 1 : a satellite of Saturn 2 : a terrestrial orchid of the genus Calypso (Cytherea), of the Northern Hemisphere having a single, variegated, purple, yellow, and white flower | |
| capitol n | |
| [L Capitolium, temple of Jupiter at Rome on the Capitoline hill] : a building in which a state legislative body meets | |
| Carme n | |
| [fr. Gk, the mother, by Zeus, of Britomartis] : a satellite of Jupiter | |
| caryatid n | |
| [L caryatides, fr. Gk karyatides priestesses of Artemis at Caryae] : a draped female figure supporting an entablature | |
| caryopsis n | |
| [cary + -opsis, fr. Caryatis Caryatis, an epithet of Artemis meaning "of the walnut tree"] : a small, one-celled fruit with the pericarp adherent to the seed, as in wheat | |
| Cassandra n | |
| [L, fr. Gk Kassandra, a daughter of Priam endowed with the gift of prophecy but fated never to be believed] 1 : one that predicts misfortune or disaster 2 : a girl's given name | |
| Cassiope n | |
| [NL, L, fr. Gk Kassiope Cassiopeia] : any evergreen, ericaceous shrub of a genus (Cassiopeia), having white or pinkish flowers and scale-like or needlelike leaves | |
| Cassiopeia n | |
| [L, fr. Gk Kassiopeia, the wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda] : a northern constellation between Cepheus and Perseus | |
| Cassiopeia's Chair n | |
| the most conspicuous group of stars in the constellation of Cassiopeia, resembling the outline of a chair | |
| cecropia moth n | |
| [NL cecropia, fr. L Cecropius Athenian, fr. Gk Kekrops, legendary king of Athens] : a large North American saturniid moth (Hyalophora cecropia) that is brown with red, white, and black markings | |
| centaurea n | |
| [NL, genus name, fr. ML] : any of a large genus (Centaurea) of composite herbs including several cultivated for their showy heads of tubular florets | |
| centaury n | |
| [ultim. fr. Gk Kentauros] : any of a genus (Centarium) of low herbs of the genitian family whose medical qualities are fabled to have been discovered by Chiron the centaur | |
| Cepheid n | |
| [ISV, fr. Cepheus, Princess Andromeda's father] : any of a class of pulsating stars whose very regular light variations are related directly to their intrinsic luminosities and whose apparent luminosities are used to estimate distances in astronomy | |
| cereal n | |
| [F or L; F cereale, fr. L ceralis of Ceres, of grain, fr. Ceres, goddess of agriculture] : a prepared foodstuff of grain | |
| cerium n | |
| [NL, fr. Ceres] : a malleable ductile metallic element that is the most abundant of the rare-earth group | |
| Charon n | |
| [Gk, the ferryman who conveyed the souls of the dead across the river Styx in classical mythology] 1 : satellite of the planet Pluto 2 : (ironic) any ferryman | |
| Charybdis n | |
| [L, fr. Gk] : a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily personified in Greek mythology as a female monster -- compare Scylla | |
| Cimmerian adj | |
| [L Cimmerii, a mythical people described by Homer as dwelling in a realm of mist and gloom, fr. Gk Kimmerioi] : very dark and gloomy | |
Clio n |
|
| [Gk Clio, Greek Muse of history] : a girl's given name | |
| cliometrics n | |
| the application of methods developed by other fields to the study of history | |
| concupiscence n | |
[ME, fr. MF, fr. LL concupiscentia, fr. L concupiscere to desire ardently; assoc. with Cupid, the Roman god of love] : strong sexual desire |
|
| cupid n | |
| [L Cupido, the Roman god of erotic love] : a figure that represents Cupid as a naked usu. winged boy often holding a bow and arrow | |
| cupidity n | |
| [ME cupidite, fr. MF cupidite, fr. L cupiditat-, cupiditas] 1 : inordinate desire for wealth : avarice, greed 2 : strong desire : lust | |
| Cupid's bow n | |
| a bow that consists of two convex curves usu. with recurved ends | |
| cyclopean adj | |
| [L, fr. Gk Kyklops, a race of giants with one eye in the middle of their foreheads, fr. kykl- cycl- + ops eye] 1 : huge, massive 2 : of or relating to a style of stone construction marked typically by the use of large irregular blocks without mortar | |
| Cyclops n | |
[NL, genus name, fr. L, fr. Gk Kyklops, any of a race of giants in Greek mythology with a single eye in the middle of the forehead] : any of a genus (Cyclops) of freshwater predatory copepods having a median eye |
|
| cygnet n | |
| [ME sygnett, fr. MF cygne swan, fr. L cycnus, cygnus, fr. Cygnus, a mythological king who was turned into a swan] : a young swan | |
| Cygnus n | |
| a N constellation in the Milky Way near Lyra; also called the Northern Cross, the Swan | |
Cynthia n |
|
| [L, Cynthius, epithet of Artemis, fr. fem. of Cynthius of Cynthus, fr. Cynthus, mountain on Delos where Artemis was born, fr. Gk Kynthos] 1 : moon 2 : a girl's given name | |
cyprian n |
|
| [L cyprius of Cyprus, fr. Gk kyprios, fr. Kypros Cyprus, birthplace of Aphrodite] : prostitute | |
cypripedium n |
|
| [NL, genus name, fr. LL Cypris, a name for Venus + Gk pedilon sandal] 1 : any of a genus (Cypripedium) of Eurasian and No. American terrestrial orchids having large usu. showy drooping flowers with the lip inflated or pouched 2 : any of a genus Paphiopedaelum) of widely cultivated orchids | |
Cytherean adj |
|
| [L, fr. Gk Kythereia, fr. Kythera Cythera, island associated with Aphrodite] : of or relating to the planet Venus | |
An Etymological Dictionary of Classical Mythology
by Elizabeth W. Kraemer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Last updated 1/13/14