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Electra

[ih-lek-truh]
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noun

Also Elektra. Classical Mythology. the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who incited her brother Orestes to kill Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.
Astronomy. one of the six visible stars in the Pleiades.

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

Examples from the Web for electra

Contemporary Examples of electra

Historical Examples of electra

  • Here he got a bed, and here he ascertained that the Electra had not yet arrived.

    Henry Dunbar

    M. E. Braddon

  • Electra flew upstairs to bring down a bottle of Florida water.

    Victor's Triumph

    Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

  • He was shown into the parlor, where she sat at work with Electra.

    Victor's Triumph

    Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

  • Electra dropped a little behind, and was attended by Victor Hartman.

    Victor's Triumph

    Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

  • "Yes, it was very nice of him to remember her," said Electra, musingly.

    Victor's Triumph

    Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

British Dictionary definitions for electra

Electra

noun

Greek myth the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She persuaded her brother Orestes to avenge their father by killing his murderess Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus
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 electra

Electra

daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, responsible for the murder of her mother, from Greek Elektra, literally "shining, bright," related to elektor "the beaming sun" and perhaps to elektron "amber." Especially in psychological Electra complex (1913) in reference to a daughter who feels attraction toward her father and hostility to her mother.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Culture definitions for electra

Electra

In classical mythology, a daughter of Agamemnon. To avenge his death, she helped her brother, Orestes, kill their mother and her lover.

Note

The “Electra complex” in psychology involves a girl's or woman's unconscious sexual feelings for her father.
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.