Janus

American  

[jey-nuhs] / ˈdʒeɪ nəs /

noun

1. an ancient Roman god of doorways, of beginnings, and of the rising and setting of the sun, usually represented as having one head with two bearded faces back to back, looking in opposite directions.

2. Astronomy. a moon of the planet Saturn, located just outside the rings.

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Janus ¹ British  

/ ˈdʒeɪnəs /

noun

1. a small inner satellite of Saturn

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Janus ² British  

/ ˈdʒeɪnəs /

noun

1. the Roman god of doorways, passages, and bridges. In art he is depicted with two heads facing opposite ways

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Janus Cultural  

1. The Roman god of doors and gateways and hence of beginnings.

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Discover More

The month of January is named after Janus.

Janus was pictured with two faces looking in opposite directions, one young and one old. Consequently, a hypocritical person is often called “Janus-faced.”

Etymology

Origin of Janus

< Latin, special use of jānus doorway, archway, arcade

Example Sentences

Before those pricings, there had only been five IPO pricings in the past month, according to Renaissance Capital data, with the largest IPO being $840 million on March 19 from Janus Living.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

Jonathan Cofsky, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors, offers another option if investors don’t want to buy stocks that might have lower-than-usual valuations but are spending heavy amounts of free cash flow.

From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026

This triggers a structural imbalance called a Janus reaction, which creates internal strain within the layers.

From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026

One pending acquisition Behren is watching is Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners’ $52 per share all-cash offer for asset manager Janus Henderson.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

I remembered last summer, when the two-headed god, Janus, had warned Annabeth she would have to make a major choice—and that had happened after she saw Luke.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan