Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A son of Zeus and Europa who, in reward for his exemplary sense of justice, was made a judge of the underworld after his death.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • proper noun (Greek Mythol.) One of the three judges of the infernal regions; figuratively, a strictly just judge.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A taxonomic genus within the family Hyacinthaceae — renamed as Drimia.
  • noun mythology, Ancient Greece One of the three judges of the infernal regions.
  • noun figuratively A strict and just judge.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (Greek mythology) a judge of the dead in the underworld

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

New Latin, from Ancient Greek Ῥαδάμανθυς ("name of a son of Zeus and Europa, one of the three judges of the dead") The name is pre-Greek, of unknown meaning, possibly of Phoenician origin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin, from Ancient Greek.

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Examples

  • The "Rhadamanthus" having thoroughly explored the coast where the wreck had occurred, was able to state with certainty that not one person living had been left behind of those who had formed the passengers and crew of the "Birkenhead."

    Grace Darling Heroine of the Farne Islands Eva Hope

  • As soon as intelligence of the catastrophe was received at Cape Town, a steamer, "Rhadamanthus," was dispatched to take a survey of the spot.

    Grace Darling Heroine of the Farne Islands Eva Hope

  • a kind of Rhadamanthus, whose judgments fall heavily on ill-doers.

    Cornelius O'Dowd Upon Men And Women And Other Things In General Charles James Lever 1839

  • Of the three privy counsellors, Minos, Æacus, and Rhadamanthus, one judged Greece, another Asia Minor — for the Greeks were then unacquainted with the Greater Asia — and the third was for Europe.

    A Philosophical Dictionary 2007

  • Egyptian idolatry, feigns this story of himself: that when he had seen the Elysian fields, and was now coming away, Rhadamanthus gave him a mallow root, and bade him pray to that when he was in any peril or extremity; which he did accordingly; for when he came to

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • It was in vain to be a Rhadamanthus with the bells, and if an unfortunate bell rang without leave, to have it down inexorably and silence it.

    The Haunted House 2007

  • Rhadamanthus, their infernal judges, and those Stygian lakes, fiery

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • It was in vain to be a Rhadamanthus with the bells, and if an unfortunate bell rang without leave, to have it down inexorably and silence it.

    The Haunted House 2007

  • The so – called decision of Rhadamanthus is worthy of all admiration.

    Laws 2006

  • Rhadamanthus, a brother of his, with whose name you are familiar; he is reputed to have been the justest of men, and we Cretans are of opinion that he earned this reputation from his righteous administration of justice when he was alive.

    Laws 2006

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