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.
True to his Paphian mother, trace by trace, Slowly the Love-god with prevenient art, Begins the lost Sychæus to efface, And living passion to a breast impart Long dead to feeling, and a vacant heart.
From The Æneid of Virgil Translated into English Verse by E. Fairfax Taylor by Edward Fairfax Taylor
Would you worship the Paphian goddess, the groves of Cyprus are not more taciturn than those of the Temple.
From The Warden by Anthony Trollope
Cupid, too, in Paphian shades, His hair with rosy fillets braids, When with the blushing sister Graces, The wanton winding dance he traces.
From The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore Collected by Himself with Explanatory Notes by William Michael Rossetti
PAPHOS: there were two towns of the name, both on the west side of the island of Cyprus, and dedicated to Venus, who was hence the Paphian and the Cyprian goddess.
From A Dialogue Concerning Oratory, Or The Causes Of Corrupt Eloquence The Works Of Cornelius Tacitus, Volume 8 (of 8); With An Essay On His Life And Genius, Notes, Supplements by Cornelius Tacitus
They were northern beauties, hard-featured and large-boned, and I would not give a graceful southern hill, like Monte Albano or the Paphian Olympus, for the whole of them.
From Northern Travel Summer and Winter Pictures of Sweden, Denmark and Lapland by Bayard Taylor
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