lamia

[ley-mee-uh]

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.

lamia

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of lamia¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of lamia¹

C14: via Latin from Greek Lamia

Example Sentences

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

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

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

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Why," returned Calandrino, "'tis not to go farther, but there is a damsel below, fairer than a lamia, and so mightily in love with me that 'twould astonish thee.

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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.

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