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Cupid

[kyoo-pid]

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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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Read more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.

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)

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

Examples from the Web for cupid

Contemporary Examples of cupid

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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of cupid

A grievous error it is to suppose that Cupid's artillery is limited to bow and arrows.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
It is only in poetry that Cupid is more powerful than either Mammon or Mars.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
Who, except Cupid, would barter his liberty for a butterfly?
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
I did; the minute-hand was exactly there, under the point of that Cupid's foot.
The Room in the Dragon Volant
J. Sheridan LeFanu
Is not the author and parent of all our love, Cupid, as blind as a beetle?
The Praise of Folly
Desiderius Erasmus

British Dictionary definitions for cupid

Cupid

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

Word Origin and History for cupid

Cupid

Roman god of passionate love, late 14c., from Latin Cupido, personification of cupido "desire, love," from cupere "to desire" (see cupidity). Identified with Greek Eros. Cupid's bow as a shape, especially of lips, is from 1858.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Culture 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.

Note

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.