Aphrodite

American  

[af-ruh-dahy-tee] / ˌæf rəˈdaɪ ti /

noun

1. the ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty, identified by the Romans with Venus.

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Aphrodite British  

/ ˌæfrəˈdaɪtɪ /

noun

1. Also called: Cytherea.  Roman counterpart: Venus.  Greek myth the goddess of love and beauty, daughter of Zeus

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Aphrodite Cultural  

1. The Greek and Roman goddess of love and beauty; the mother of Eros and Aeneas. In what may have been the first beauty contest, Paris awarded her the prize (the apple of discord), choosing her over Hera and Athena as the most beautiful goddess (see Judgment of Paris). She was thought to have been born out of the foam of the sea and is thus often pictured rising from the water, notably in The Birth of Venus, by Botticelli.

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Etymology

Origin of Aphrodite

First recorded in 1650–60; from Greek Aphrodī́tē, incorrectly etymologized by the Greeks, e.g., the poet Hesiod (8th century b.c.), to mean “risen from the sea foam” (aphrós), but who correctly believed her to have come from the Levant and associated her especially with the island of Cyprus; probably from Phoenician ʿAshtart (i.e., Astarte), influenced by Greek aphrós; from the Common Semitic root ʿṯtr, used to form personal names of the morning and evening stars; Ashtoreth ( def. ), Astarte ( def. ), Esther ( def. ), Ishtar ( def. )

Example Sentences

With voguing dancers flanking her, Aphrodite is aptly named.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2024

The all-female group have been named Artemis, Athena and Aphrodite, after the Greek goddesses of wild animals, wisdom and love.

From BBC • Oct. 19, 2023

Michelangelo Pistoletto, the Arte Povera artist, places a concrete copy of the Aphrodite of Knidos in a pile of trash.

From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2023

And I love that she's in the videos for "Come On, Aphrodite" and "Big Girls," so people are going to get a chance to see her sing and see the two of us interacting.

From Salon • Apr. 16, 2023

Aphrodite made me hold the mirror a little higher.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan