Cupid

[ kyoo-pid ]

noun

1. Also called Amor. the ancient Roman god of love and the son of either Mars or Mercury and Venus, identified with Eros and commonly represented as a winged, naked, infant boy with a bow and arrows.
2. (lowercase) a similar winged being, or a representation of one, especially as symbolic of love.

Cupid

/ ˈkjuːpɪd /

noun

1. the Roman god of love, represented as a winged boy with a bow and arrow Greek counterpartEros
2. not capital any similar figure, esp as represented in Baroque art

Cupid

1. The Roman name of Eros , the god of love. In the story of Cupid and Psyche , he is described as a magnificently handsome young man. In many stories, he is called the son of Venus .

Notes

In art, Cupid is often depicted as a chubby, winged infant who shoots arrows at people to make them fall in love. He is also sometimes shown as blind or blindfolded.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cupid¹

< Latin Cupīdō Cupid, the personification of cupīdō desire, love, equivalent to cup ( ere ) to long for, desire + -īdō noun suffix ( libido )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cupid¹

C14: from Latin Cupīdō, from cupīdō desire, from cupidus desirous; see cupidity

Example Sentences

A delicious marble Cupid appeared to have just alighted on his pedestal at the upper end of the room.

From The Daily Beast

So she's planning on playing Cupid by inviting a number of her single male friends to Wills' birthday bash,' a source tells Now.

From The Daily Beast

The same ginger-haired model served Caravaggio for his Amor Vincit Omnia, where Cupid stands astride an unmade bed.

From The Daily Beast

His Cupid—which, like Veronica Mars, was critically adored yet underwatched—got canceled after one season in 1998.

From The Daily Beast

R and I were introduced by a married couple who enjoyed playing Cupid for their pet bachelor, a junior I-banker.

From The Daily Beast

A coquette is said to be an imperfect incarnation of Cupid, as she keeps her beau, and not her arrows, in a quiver.

From Project Gutenberg

Whenever I come up against Cupid, experience has taught me to retire deferentially, and wait until the love-fever has abated.

From Project Gutenberg

Later, he came on as Cupid with bow and arrow, and made some fine shots into a target representing a heart.

From Project Gutenberg

Surely the Cupid bow of the thin Napoleonic lips was there, the distant yet piercing look.

From Project Gutenberg

A sad little marble Cupid, with his bow and quiver gone, was still pirouetting in stony glee over a stained and dried-up basin.

From Project Gutenberg