lamia

American  

[ley-mee-uh] / ˈleɪ mi ə /

noun

plural

lamias, lamiae

1. Classical Mythology. one of a class of fabulous monsters, commonly represented with the head and breast of a woman and the body of a serpent, said to allure youths and children in order to suck their blood.

2. a vampire; a female demon.

3. (initial capital letter, italics) a narrative poem (1819) by John Keats.

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lamia British  

/ ˈleɪmɪə /

noun

1. classical myth one of a class of female monsters depicted with a snake's body and a woman's head and breasts

2. a vampire or sorceress

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Etymology

Origin of lamia

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek lámia a female man-eater

Example Sentences

But Nicander the Colophonian, in his essay on Dialects, says that the carcharias is also called the lamias and the squill.

From Project Gutenberg

The Seventy, in Isaiah, translate the Hebrew lilith by lamia.

From Project Gutenberg

There, on one of the broadest tombstones she saw sitting a circle of lamias.

From Project Gutenberg

The word lamiae signified, walking spirits, which, according to the vulgar notion, devoured men; this makes the spirit of the sarcasm against the tax-gatherers.

From Project Gutenberg

The lamia ran as fast as she could after them, to catch them up, and when she came to a field where people were working she asked them: 'Have you seen anyone pass this way?'

From Project Gutenberg