Leonidas

American

[lee-on-i-duhs] / liˈɒn ɪ dəs /

noun

died 480 b.c., Greek hero: king of Sparta 489?–480.

Leonidas British

/ lɪˈɒnɪˌdæs /

noun

died 480 _bc , king of Sparta (?490–480), hero of the Battle of Thermopylae, in which he was killed by the Persians under Xerxes

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When Leonidas was just a month old, he was fussy and often constipated.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 3, 2026

The natural leader of the Populist Party was the Farmers’ Alliance leader, Leonidas L. Polk, who presided over the meeting that created the party.

From Slate • Jul. 3, 2023

Fort Johnson had previously been named after a Confederate commander, Leonidas Polk.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 13, 2023

“We don’t want oil,” said Leonidas Iza, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, which helped lead the protests.

From New York Times • Jan. 14, 2023

So, I’m walking around doing a double spell, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in one shoe, Enrique Mirabal in the other.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023