Paphian
Americanadjective
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of or relating to Paphos, an ancient city of Cyprus sacred to Aphrodite.
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of or relating to love, especially illicit sexual love; erotic; wanton.
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noting or pertaining to Aphrodite or to her worship or service.
noun
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the Paphian, Aphrodite: so called from her cult center at Paphos.
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(often lowercase) a prostitute.
adjective
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of or relating to Paphos
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of or relating to Aphrodite
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literary of sexual love
Etymology
Origin of Paphian
1605–15; < Latin Paphi ( us ) (< Greek Páphios of Paphos, of Aphrodite) + -an
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.
It was here that Emerson wrote Nature; for he was then an inhabitant of the Manse, and used to watch the Assyrian dawn and Paphian sunset and moonrise from the summit of our eastern hill.
From The Old Manse (From "Mosses from an Old Manse") by Hawthorne, Nathaniel
He rubbed it between both of his cold ones and uttered: 'By the Paphian Queen: by her teams of doves and sparrows!
From Privy Seal His Last Venture by Ford, Ford Madox
And yet I heard Her darkly bid the Paphian be gone—— From here—without her.
From Yolanda of Cyprus by Rice, Cale Young
A tear the Paphian sheds for each blood-drop of Adonis, and tears and blood on the earth are turned to flowers.
From A Book of Myths by Stratton, Helen
Ah, by Zeus, even in your coldest, most forbidding mood you are fair as the Paphian when she sprang above the sea!
From A Victor of Salamis by Davis, William Stearns
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
