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Demeter

American  
[dih-mee-ter] / dɪˈmi tər /

noun

  1. the ancient Greek chthonian goddess of agriculture and the protector of marriage and the social order, identified by the Romans with Ceres. She presided over the Eleusinian mysteries.


Demeter British  
/ dɪˈmiːtə /

noun

  1. Roman counterpart: CeresGreek myth the goddess of agricultural fertility and protector of marriage and women

"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

Demeter Cultural  
  1. The Greek and Roman goddess of grain, agriculture, and the harvest. The story of Demeter and her daughter, Persephone, explains the cycle of the seasons. When Persephone was carried off to the underworld by Hades, Demeter was so forlorn that she did not tend the crops, and the first winter came to the Earth. Eventually Zeus allowed Persephone to rejoin her mother for two-thirds of every year, and thus the cycle of the seasons began.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Here Mina and her friend Lucy Westenra sit among the graves, sketching and talking, later, watching clouds gather for the storm that would bring the Demeter, and Count Dracula, to Whitby.

From Los Angeles Times May 14, 2026

“Now they are breaking out again, setting up to enter 2026 as leadership,” writes Kevin Demeter, technical analyst at Renaissance Macro Research.

From Barron's Dec. 5, 2025

From Demeter mourning Persephone to the harvest holidays of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot, we’ve always marked time through the land.

From Salon Oct. 7, 2025

Demeter has a daughter, Persephone, who has to go to the underworld for six months.

From Scientific American Sep. 28, 2023

He, like Demeter, was afflicted, not because of grief for another, as she was, but because of his own pain.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

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