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Eumenides

[ yoo-men-i-deez ]

noun

  1. (used with a plural verb) Classical Mythology. a euphemistic name for the Furies, meaning “the Kindly Ones.”
  2. (italics) (used with a singular verb) a tragedy (485 b.c.) by Aeschylus.


Eumenides

/ juːˈmɛnɪˌdiːz /

plural noun

  1. another name for the Furies, used by the Greeks as a euphemism
“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Eumenides1

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

"A Greek playwright entered a tailor shop. The tailor asked him, 'Euripides?' The tragedian responded, 'Yes, Eumenides?'"

From Salon

The central theme of Aeschylus’s Eumenides is the trial of Orestes, the prince of Argos, for the murder of his mother, Clytemnestra.

From the Furies of frightful aspect they became the Benignant Ones, the Eumenides, protectors of the suppliant.

“We are fierce and cannot be deviated by man,” the Eumenides remind him.

Most of us don’t know our Euripides from our Eumenides, but it turns out we’re living in a Greek moment anyway.

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