Hyades

[ hahy-uh-deez ]

/ ˈhaɪ əˌdiz /

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noun (used with a plural verb)

Astronomy. a group of stars comprising a moving cluster in the constellation Taurus, supposed by the ancients to indicate the approach of rain when they rose with the sun.

Classical Mythology. a group of nymphs and sisters of the Pleiades who nurtured the infant Dionysus and were placed among the stars as a reward.

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

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Also Hy·ads

[hahy-adz]. /ˈhaɪ ædz/.

Origin of Hyades

1350–1400; Middle English Hiades<Latin <Greek, equivalent to hý(ein) to rain + -ades, plural of -as-ad¹

Words nearby Hyades

hyacinth, hyacinth bean, hyacinthin, hyacinthine, Hyacinthus, Hyades, hyaena, hyal-, hyalin, hyaline, hyaline cartilage

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

How to use Hyades in a sentence

Among these include many of the stars in and around the Hyades cluster.
Milky Way’s tidal forces are shredding a nearby star cluster|Ken Croswell|August 18, 2020|Science News For Students
Siegfried Röser, an astronomer at Heidelberg University in Germany who led one of the two teams that discovered the cluster’s tails, agrees that the Hyades is in its sunset years.
The star cluster closest to Earth is in its death throes|Ken Croswell|July 24, 2020|Science News
Songs that the Hyades shall sing, Where flap the tatters of the King, Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Some have suggested that the first two letters are from ὕειν, to rain, (cf. Hyades).
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 1|Various

He was peculiarly named Ὑης; and his priests were the Hyades, and Hyantes.
A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume II. (of VI.)|Jacob Bryant
The inexperienced observer is certain to be surprised by the display of stars which an opera-glass brings to view in the Hyades.
Astronomy with an Opera-glass|Garrett Putman Serviss
And now let us look at the Hyades, an assemblage of stars not less beautiful than their more celebrated sisters the Pleiades.
Astronomy with an Opera-glass|Garrett Putman Serviss
A good example is the cluster in the Hyades, where Boss has studied thirty-nine stars with special care.
Climatic Changes|Ellsworth Huntington

British Dictionary definitions for Hyades (1 of 2)

Hyades¹

Hyads (ˈhaɪædz)

/ (ˈhaɪəˌdiːz) /

pl n

an open cluster of stars in the constellation TaurusCompare Pleiades 1

Word Origin for Hyades

C16: via Latin from Greek huades, perhaps from huein to rain

British Dictionary definitions for Hyades (2 of 2)

Hyades²

/ (ˈhaɪəˌdiːz) /

pl n

Greek myth seven nymphs, daughters of Atlas, whom Zeus placed among the stars after death

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