Minotaur

American  

[min-uh-tawr] / ˈmɪn əˌtɔr /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a monster, the offspring of Pasiphaë and the Cretan bull, that had the head of a bull on the body of a man: housed in the Cretan Labyrinth, it was fed on human flesh until Theseus, helped by Ariadne, killed it.

2. any person or thing that devours or destroys.

---

Minotaur British  

/ ˈmaɪnətɔː /

noun

1. Greek myth a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. It was kept in the Labyrinth in Crete, feeding on human flesh, until destroyed by Theseus

---

Minotaur Cultural  

1. In classical mythology, a monster, half man and half bull. The Minotaur was born to the queen of Crete, Pasiphaë, after she mated with a sacred bull. The king Minos, to hide his shame, had Daedalus construct the Labyrinth in which to hide the monster. Minos then forced the Athenians to send as tribute fourteen of their young people, seven men and seven women, to be locked in the Labyrinth for the Minotaur to eat. To stop the slaughter, the hero Theseus volunteered to enter the Labyrinth and fight the Minotaur. On the instructions of the king's daughter, Theseus brought in a ball of thread, which he unwound as he went through. He found the Minotaur, killed it, and then used the thread to find his way out of the maze.

---

Etymology

Origin of Minotaur

< Latin Mīnōtaurus < Greek Mīnṓtauros, equivalent to Mī́nō ( s ) Minos + taúros bull

Example Sentences

"You can come out of them with feelings of secret and victorious expansion, as if you were Theseus after slaying the Minotaur."

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2024

By Bruce Borgos Minotaur: 320 pages, $28 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 18, 2023

In the courtyards, young men and women participated in bullfights that may be the basis for the myth of the Minotaur.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

He is no Minotaur or Gorgon or dragon.

From New York Times • Feb. 16, 2023

I’d grown up hearing stories about him fighting the Minotaur and stuff, but I’d always pictured him as this huge, buff guy.

From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan