Hesperides

[he-sper-i-deez]

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 Gaea 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.

Origin of Hesperides

see origin at Hesperus, -ides

Related formsHes·per·id·i·an

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hesperides

Historical Examples of hesperides

Did you ever hear of the golden apples, that grew in the garden of the Hesperides?
The Three Golden Apples
Nathaniel Hawthorne
But, can you show me the way to the garden of the Hesperides?
The Three Golden Apples
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The peaches of immortality suggest the apples of the Hesperides.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various
The ancients, in their ignorance, placed the garden of the Hesperides there.
The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras
Jules Verne
In Greek legend apples are stolen from the garden of Hesperides.
The Evolution of the Dragon
G. Elliot Smith

British Dictionary definitions for hesperides

Hesperides

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 FormsHesperidian (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