Hygieia

American  

[hahy-jee-uh] / haɪˈdʒi ə /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. the ancient Greek goddess of health.

2. Astronomy. the fourth largest asteroid in our solar system, discovered in 1849 and located in the asteroid belt.

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Other Word Forms

• Hygieian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Hygieia

First recorded in 1700–10; from Greek Hygíeiā, the goddess of health, personification of hygíeiā “health, soundness of body,” equivalent to hygiḗ(s) “healthy, sound” + -ia noun suffix; see -ia

Example Sentences

Depicting Hygieia, Apollo and other Greco-Roman gods, the figures are said to be around 2,300 years old.

From BBC • Nov. 8, 2022

This he called prayer; but whether his adorations were addressed to the goddess Hygieia or some more orthodox deity, never plainly appeared. 

From Merry Men by Stevenson, Robert Louis

At the end of the slab the visitor will remark old AEsculapius, and the figure of his daughter with a serpent twined about her left arm, as Hygieia, or Health.

From How to See the British Museum in Four Visits by Jerrold, W. Blanchard

Bernardo Tasso's Ode, for example, and Giovanni Prati's Song of Hygieia, while really independent poems, are so charged with Horatian matter and spirit that one hesitates to call them original.

From Horace and His Influence by Showerman, Grant

After an hour's sail they reached a beautifully- built and fast-sailing vessel, the Hygieia, which belonged to Kallias.

From An Egyptian Princess — Volume 09 by Grove, Eleanor