Eumenides

[ yoo-men-i-deez ]

/ yuˈmɛn ɪˌdiz /

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noun

(used with a plural verb)Classical Mythology. a euphemistic name for the Furies, meaning “the Kindly Ones.”

(italics)(used with a singular verb) a tragedy (485 b.c.) by Aeschylus.

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Compare Oresteia.

Words nearby Eumenides

-eum, Eumaeus, eumelanin, Eumenes I, Eumenes II, Eumenides, Eumetazoa, eumetazoan, eumetria, eumung, Eumycota

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use Eumenides in a sentence

There is a savage ritual of purification from blood shed by a homicide (compare Eumenides, line 273).
Homer and His Age|Andrew Lang
Quin dir Eumenides monstraque Tartari His longe duce te finibus exulant.
Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects|Giorgio Vasari
The witches are not, it is true, divine Eumenides, and are not intended to be; they are ignoble and vulgar instruments of hell.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VIII (of X) - Continental Europe II.|Various
Since the "Eumenides" of Æschylus nothing so grand and terrible has ever been written.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VIII (of X) - Continental Europe II.|Various

When they came to Orestes and the Eumenides, Colin held out the drawing at arm's length for a moment lovingly.
Babylon, Volume 2 (of 3)|Grant Allen

British Dictionary definitions for Eumenides

Eumenides

/ (juːˈmɛnɪˌdiːz) /

pl n

another name for the Furies, used by the Greeks as a euphemism

Word Origin for Eumenides

from Greek, literally: the benevolent ones, from eumenēs benevolent, from eu- + menos spirit

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