Hermes

American  

[hur-meez] / ˈhɜr miz /

noun

1. the ancient Greek herald and messenger of the gods and the god of roads, commerce, invention, cunning, and theft.

2. Astronomy. a small asteroid that in 1937 approached within 485,000 miles (780,000 km) of the earth, the closest approach of an asteroid ever observed.

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Hermes ¹ British  

/ ˈhɜːmiːz /

noun

1. Roman counterpart: Mercury.  Greek myth the messenger and herald of the gods; the divinity of commerce, cunning, theft, travellers, and rascals. He was represented as wearing winged sandals

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Hermes ² British  

/ ˈhɜːmiːz /

noun

1. a small asteroid some 800 m in diameter that passed within 670 000 kilometres of the earth in 1937, and is now lost

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Hermes Cultural  

1. The messenger god of classical mythology. He traveled with great swiftness, aided by the wings he wore on his sandals and his cap. Hermes was a son of Zeus and the father of Pan.

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Discover More

The caduceus, the wand of Hermes, is the traditional symbol of physicians. It has wings at the top and serpents twined about the staff.

Example Sentences

Louis brokered the sale of Amiri clothes and Hermes bags from Lam to Ben, who bought the luxuries on credit and never paid him, Louis testified.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

Hermes co leads a major research project that studies ancient livestock DNA.

From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2026

The increase in sales during the quarter, which comprises the key Christmas shopping season, showed an upward trend compared with the previous three months, when Hermes booked a 9.6% rise.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

He’s accused of using money from a Hyde Park-based homelessness program to buy Hermes clothing, vacations and homes in Westwood and Greece.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2026

He wore jeans and a T-shirt, and with his brooding expression he looked almost human—like the younger version of Luke I’d seen in the vision, pleading with Hermes to tell him his fate.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan