Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Greek Mythology A strikingly beautiful youth loved by Aphrodite.
- n. A very handsome young man.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A beau; a dandy; an exquisite: as, he is quite an Adonis. In botany, a genus of European plants belonging to the natural order Ranunculaceæ. In the corn-adonis, or pheasant's-eye, A. autumnalis, the petals are bright scarlet, and are considered as emblematical of the blood of Adonis, from which the plant is fabled to have sprung.
- n. [lowercase] A kind of wig formerly worn.
Wiktionary
- n. A taxonomic genus within the tribe Ranunculeae — known as pheasant's eye or blood-drops.
- n. Greek mythology A beautiful young man loved by Aphrodite.
- n. rare A male given name
- n. A beautiful man.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Gr. Myth.) A youth beloved by Venus for his beauty. He was killed in the chase by a wild boar.
- n. A preëminently beautiful young man; a dandy.
- n. (Bot.) A genus of plants of the family
Ranunculaceæ , containing the pheasant's eye (Adonis autumnalis); -- named from Adonis, whose blood was fabled to have stained the flower.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any handsome young man
- n. annual or perennial herbs
- n. (Greek mythology) a handsome youth loved by both Aphrodite and Persephone
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek Ἄδωνις (Adōnis). (Wiktionary)
- Greek Adōnis, of Phoenician origin; see אd in Semitic roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Adonis _Adonis_ apropos _apropo_ bowsprit _bowsprit_ brooch _broch_ not _broosh_ compromise _compromize_ jowl _jol_, not like _owl_ molecular _molecular_ ogle _ogle_ trow _tro_ vocable _vocable_ zoology _zoology_, not _zoo_”
“Shakespeare's _Venus and Adonis_, in like manner, is so written as to force the reader to feel with Venus the seduction of Adonis.]”
“The name Adonis is not here used, as Adon is the appropriated title of Jehovah.”
“For the rest, he expounded some of the standard anti-Stratfordian delusions, e. g., that Venus and Adonis is exceptionally learned and that the Stratford Man made his money as a “grain trader”.”
“He is, I believe, half Greek so Adonis is not such an odd name. on July 30, 2008 at 9: 39 pm | Reply nightjack”
“Eric, a Nordic Adonis, is graced by a seemingly endless supply of good fortune.”
Fortunate Son: Summary and book reviews of Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley.
“[104] „ Adonis ... and Adonai Tammuz : Adonis is familiar, of course, but Adonai?”
“Adonis is used to illustrate the continuous recycling of organic matter then”
“If tears are shed for Adoni or Adonai, whom we call Adonis, he is soon resuscitated, and rejoicing takes place.”
“Andrew Adonis is an intelligent chap. It pains me to hear the nonsense he now has to regurgitate as a Labour Minister.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘Adonis’.
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LIT - Greco-Latin gods and heroes
Ganymede, Io, Olympia, Callisto, Hera, Kronos, Despoina, Hyades, Dyaus, Rhadamanthus, Semele, Leto and 198 more...
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Spelling Bee list 2011
Abalone, ablution, absolution, aboriginally, abstemious, academician, acclamation, accommodation, acculturation, acetic, acetone, acme and 590 more...
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GRE uncommon
patronage, expletive, exhort, exegesis, execrable, excommunicate, evince, escarpment, ersatz, ergo, epoxy, snare and 1202 more...
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Words from Classical Antiquity
Something that was handed me for a Latin class. Some of them (panic, fauna, hector, tantalize) have unexpected etymologies that make perfect sense.
Adonis, aegis, amazon, ambrosial, atlas, auroral, bacchanalian, bacchic, Cassandra, chimerical, chimeric, echolalia and 43 more...
Tweets
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