Odyssey
[od-uh-see]
- (italics) an epic poem attributed to Homer, describing Odysseus's adventures in his ten-year attempt to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
- (often lowercase) a long series of wanderings or adventures, especially when filled with notable experiences, hardships, etc.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for odyssey
Contemporary Examples
Dzhugashvili's odyssey through the German camps lasted almost two years.
The fact that this is all true turns the story from one of intrigue and odyssey into one of anthropological significance as well.
The Odyssey, Beowulf are poems, yes, but with a practical function.
But how long that lease is good for depends on Odyssey Dawn's success, and to succeed, you need clear goals.
Josh Dzieza on the history of naming military operations, from Barbarossa to Blue Spoon, and what Odyssey Dawn really means.
Historical Examples
I called him, and begged he would relate to me the Odyssey of his terrible night.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
What an Odyssey of adventures he would149 have to relate when he reached home!
Left on the LabradorDillon Wallace
The Odyssey is the story of his home-coming, his recovery of his own.
Epic and RomanceW. P. Ker
The greatest scenes of the Iliad and the Odyssey have little to do with myth.
Epic and RomanceW. P. Ker
The Iliad and Odyssey became text-books for the instruction of Greek youth.
FolkwaysWilliam Graham Sumner
Odyssey
- a Greek epic poem, attributed to Homer, describing the ten-year homeward wanderings of Odysseus after the fall of Troy
- (often not capital) any long eventful journey
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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
Word Origin and History for odyssey
n.
c.1600, "Odyssey," from Latin Odyssea, from Greek Odysseia, name of the Homeric epic poem of ancient Greece, relating the ten-year wanderings of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, after the Trojan War. Figurative sense of "long, adventurous journey" is first recorded 1889.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper