Xenophon

American  

[zen-uh-fuhn, -fon] / ˈzɛn ə fən, -ˌfɒn /

noun

1. 434?–355? b.c., Greek historian and essayist.

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Xenophon British  

/ ˈzɛnəfən /

noun

1. 431–?355 _bc , Greek general and historian; a disciple of Socrates. He accompanied Cyrus the Younger against Artaxerxes II and, after Cyrus' death at Cunaxa (401), he led his army of 10 000 Greek soldiers to the Black Sea, an expedition described in his Anabasis. His other works include Hellenica, a history of Greece, and the Memorabilia, Apology, and Symposium, which contain recollections of Socrates

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Other Word Forms

• Xenophontian
  adjective
• Xenophontine
  adjective

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Xenophon

Andrew Bayliss, the author of “Sparta: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Superpower,” is a defter writer than Xenophon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026

Another contemporary of Socrates, the historian Xenophon, wrote an account of Socrates’s trial and death in his Memorabilia.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

“This has been a needless point of division in the community for more than 18 months now,” Nick Xenophon, a former senator who used to represent the state of South Australia, said in a statement.

From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2018

Late on Wednesday, a Senate deadline expired after Labor, the Greens and the Nick Xenophon Team signalled they would not support the bill in its current form.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2017

The fatal dart was thrown by Gryllus, son of Xenophon, the historian and leader of the ten thousand Greeks on their retreat from the battle-field of Cunaxa to the Black Sea.

From The Last Words of Distinguished Men and Women (Real and Traditional) by Marvin, Frederic Rowland