HAMADRYAD

hamadryad, king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah, Naja hannah

(noun) large cobra of southeastern Asia and the East Indies; the largest venomous snake; sometimes placed in genus Naja

hamadryad

(noun) the nymph or spirit of a particular tree

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

hamadryad (plural hamadryads or hamadryades)

(Greek mythology) A wood-nymph who was physically a part of her tree; she would die if her tree were felled.

The king cobra.

A kind of baboon, Papio hamadryas, venerated by the ancient Egyptians.

Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genera Hamadryas and Tellervo.

Source: Wiktionary


Ham"a*dry`ad, n.; pl. E. Hamadryads, L. Hamadryades. Etym: [L. Hamadryas, -adis, Gr. hamadryade. See Same, and Tree.]

1. (Class. Myth.)

Definition: A tree nymph whose life ended with that of the particular tree, usually an oak, which had been her abode.

2. (Zoöl.)

Definition: A large venomous East Indian snake (Orhiophagus bungarus), allied to the cobras.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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Coffee Trivia

The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.

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