Atropos

[a-truh-pos]

noun Classical Mythology.

the Fate who cuts the thread of life.

Origin of Atropos

< Greek: literally, not turning, hence, inflexible. See a-⁶, -trope

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for atropos

And Atropos, the third, has a pair of shears ready to cut the thread of life.
The Children's Book of Celebrated Pictures|Lorinda Munson Bryant
He attempted to cut the threads of continuity as with the shears of Atropos.
The Idea of Progress|J. B. Bury
Atropos, the eldest of the three Fates (the others being Clotho and Lachĕsis), who cuts the thread of life with her shears.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3|Various
Clotho draws the thread, Lachesis turns the wheel, and Atropos cuts the string asunder when spun to a due length.
The Mysteries of All Nations|James Grant

Atropos: The Fate who cuts the thread of life and sets the soul free from the body.
The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri|Dante Alighieri

British Dictionary definitions for atropos

Atropos

noun

Greek myth the one of the three Fates who severs the thread of life

Word Origin for Atropos

Greek, from atropos that may not be turned, from a- 1 + -tropos from trepein to turn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for atropos

Atropos

one of the Fates (the one who holds the shears and determines the manner of a person's death and cuts the thread), from Greek, "inflexible," literally "not to be turned away," from a- "not" (see a- (3)) + stem of trepein "to turn" (see trope). Related form Atropa was the Greek name for deadly nightshade.