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Cupid

[ kyoo-pid ]

/ ˈkyu pɪd /

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noun

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.

(lowercase) a similar winged being, or a representation of one, especially as symbolic of love.

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Origin of Cupid

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

Words nearby Cupid

cupflower, cupful, cup fungus, cuphea, cupholder, Cupid, cupidity, Cupid's arrows, Cupid's bow, Cupid's-dart, cup of Elijah

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Cupid in a sentence

A delicious marble Cupid appeared to have just alighted on his pedestal at the upper end of the room.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|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.
Kate to Pippa: You Need a Man|Tom Sykes|June 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The same ginger-haired model served Caravaggio for his Amor Vincit Omnia, where Cupid stands astride an unmade bed.
Caravaggio's Grand Passions|Adam Eaker|June 11, 2010|DAILY BEAST
His Cupid—which, like Veronica Mars, was critically adored yet underwatched—got canceled after one season in 1998.
13 TV Shows We Want Back|Shannon Donnelly|May 21, 2009|DAILY BEAST

R and I were introduced by a married couple who enjoyed playing Cupid for their pet bachelor, a junior I-banker.
What Hookers Do on Valentine's Day|Tracy Quan|February 13, 2009|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.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
Whenever I come up against Cupid, experience has taught me to retire deferentially, and wait until the love-fever has abated.
The Doctor of Pimlico|William Le Queux
Later, he came on as Cupid with bow and arrow, and made some fine shots into a target representing a heart.
David Lannarck, Midget|George S. Harney
Surely the Cupid bow of the thin Napoleonic lips was there, the distant yet piercing look.
When Valmond Came to Pontiac, Complete|Gilbert Parker
A sad little marble Cupid, with his bow and quiver gone, was still pirouetting in stony glee over a stained and dried-up basin.
Gardens of the Caribbees, v. 1/2|Ida May Hill Starr

British Dictionary definitions for Cupid

Cupid

/ (ˈkjuːpɪd) /

noun

the Roman god of love, represented as a winged boy with a bow and arrowGreek counterpart: Eros

(not capital) any similar figure, esp as represented in Baroque art

Word Origin for Cupid

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

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

Cultural definitions for Cupid

Cupid

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 for Cupid

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.