Hesperides

[ he-sper-i-deez ]

/ hɛˈspɛr ɪˌdiz /

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noun

Classical Mythology.

(used with a plural verb) nymphs, variously given as three to seven in number, who guarded with the dragon Ladon the golden apples that were the wedding gift of Gaia to Hera.
(used with a singular verb) the garden where the golden apples were grown.
(used with a plural verb) Islands of the Blessed.

(italics)(used with a plural verb) a collection of poems (1648) by Robert Herrick.

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Origin of Hesperides

First recorded in 1590–1610; see origin at Hesperus, -ides

OTHER WORDS FROM Hesperides

Hes·per·id·i·an

[hes-puh-rid-ee-uhn], /ˌhɛs pəˈrɪd i ən/, adjective

Words nearby Hesperides

hesitative, Hesper, Hespere, Hesperia, Hesperian, Hesperides, hesperidin, hesperidium, hesperinos, hesperornis, Hesperus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Hesperides in a sentence

Juno had left these apples with the Hesperides for safekeeping.
A History of Art for Beginners and Students|Clara Erskine Clement
Juno prized these apples highly, and gave them to the Hesperides, the daughters of Hesperus.
'Round the Year in Myth and Song|Florence Holbrook
He plucked an apple, and in a moment it looked like one of the golden fruit from the garden of the Hesperides.
Stories of Old Greece and Rome|Emilie Kip Baker
They were on an island cut off from all to-morrows; but they were together, and their island held the fruits of the Hesperides.
The Dark Tower|Phyllis Bottome

A dragon watched the gardens of the Hesperides, and its destruction formed one of the seven labours of Hercules.
Mythical Monsters|Charles Gould

British Dictionary definitions for Hesperides

Hesperides

/ (hɛˈspɛrɪˌdiːz) /

pl n Greek myth

the daughters of Hesperus, nymphs who kept watch with a dragon over the garden of the golden apples in the Islands of the Blessed

(functioning as singular) the gardens themselves

another name for the Islands of the Blessed

Derived forms of Hesperides

Hesperidian (ˌhɛspəˈrɪdɪən) or Hesperidean, adjective

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