CYCLOPS

cyclops, water flea

(noun) minute free-swimming freshwater copepod having a large median eye and pear-shaped body and long antennae used in swimming; important in some food chains and as intermediate hosts of parasitic worms that affect man e.g. Guinea worms

Cyclops

(noun) (Greek mythology) one of a group of giants having a single eye in the middle of their forehead

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

cyclops (plural cyclops or cyclopes or cyclopses)

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A one-eyed giant from Greek and Roman mythology.

A one-eyed creature of any species.

(pejorative) A person with only one working eye.

(zoology) Any copepod in the genus Cyclops

Source: Wiktionary


Cy"clops (s"klps), n. sing. & pl. Etym: [L. Cyclops, Gr.

1. (Gr. Myth.)

Definition: One of a race of giants, sons of Neptune and Amphitrite, having but one eye, and that in the middle of the forehead. They were fabled to inhabit Sicily, and to assist in the workshops of Vulcan, under Mt. Etna.

Note: Pope, in his translation of the "Odyssey," uniformly spells this word Cyclop, when used in the singular.

2. (Zoöl.)

Definition: A genus of minute Entomostraca, found both in fresh and salt water. See Copepoda.

3. A portable forge, used by tinkers, etc.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

22 January 2025

MEGALITH

(noun) memorial consisting of a very large stone forming part of a prehistoric structure (especially in western Europe)


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