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Endymion

[en-dim-ee-uh n]
noun
  1. Classical Mythology. a young man kept forever youthful through eternal sleep and loved by Selene.
  2. (italics) a narrative poem (1818) by John Keats.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for endymion

Historical Examples

  • His poem "Endymion" was criticised severely in the Quarterly Review.

    Graded Poetry: Second Year

    Various

  • One of her pursuers (the Endymion) overtook her, when a sharp action began.

  • Yet for Endymion the things of earth no longer held any value.

  • The late Mr. Stibbs bought the 'remainder' of Keats's 'Endymion' at 4d.

  • We cannot wonder that Endymion attracted Shakespeare, for it is the most "romantic" of all Lyly's plays.

    John Lyly

    John Dover Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for endymion

Endymion

noun
  1. Greek myth a handsome youth who was visited every night by the moon goddess Selene, who loved him
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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 endymion

Endymion

beautiful youth loved by Moon-goddess Selene, from Greek, perhaps literally "diver, plunger," from endyein "to enter into, sink into, plunge, dive," which was used in reference to the sun or stars setting into the sea. On this theory, he originally was a solar deity, a personification of the setting sun.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper