Pasiphaë

[puh-sif-uh-ee]

noun

Classical Mythology. the wife of Minos, mother of Ariadne, and mother of the Minotaur by the Cretan bull.
Astronomy. a small moon of the planet Jupiter.

Origin of Pasiphaë

First recorded in 1775–85

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pasiphae

Historical Examples of pasiphae

On the ceiling were painted the amours of Pasiphae and the bull.
The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky
The temple and oracle of Pasiphae at Thalamae was of peculiar sanctity.
Plutarch's Lives, Volume IV
Aubrey Stewart
It was these profaner images that inflamed Phædra and Pasiphae.
Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern
Edgar Saltus
Phaidra, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, who married Theseus.
The Browning Cyclopdia
Edward Berdoe
Pasiphae (Pasiph′ae) was the reputed mother of the Minotaur killed by Theseus.
1000 Mythological Characters Briefly Described
Edward S. Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for pasiphae

Pasiphaë

noun

Greek myth the wife of Minos and mother (by a bull) of the Minotaur

Pasiphaë

noun

astronomy a small outer satellite of the planet Jupiter

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 pasiphae

Pasiphae

wife of Minos, mother of Phaedra and Ariadne, from Latin, from Greek Pasiphae, from pasiphaes "shining for all," from pasi "for all," dative plural of pas, pan "all" (see pan-) + phaos "light" (see fantasy).