Persephone

[per-sef-uh-nee]

noun

Also Proserpina, Proserpine. Classical Mythology. a daughter of Zeus and Demeter, abducted by Pluto to be queen of Hades, but allowed to return to the surface of the earth for part of the year.

a female given name.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for persephone

Contemporary Examples of persephone

Persephone snacked on pomegranate seeds in Hades and now our gas bills rocket in January.
Run with the Devil Unlike the Girl in Kentucky
Candida Moss
November 10, 2013
Pluto is god of the underworld whose wife Persephone sits frozen, entranced or asleep on her throne.
The Stars Predict Your Week
Starsky + Cox
October 29, 2011

Historical Examples of persephone

She had given to Zeus a daughter, Persephone, before his marriage with Hera.
Christianity As A Mystical Fact
Rudolf Steiner
It is not difficult to discover the meaning of the myth of Demeter and Persephone.
Christianity As A Mystical Fact
Rudolf Steiner
Persephone, who spends half her life in the grave—she could interpret it also.
A Room With A View
E. M. Forster
Surely, Persephone, you must be able to give us some idea of the dead.
Hypolympia
Edmund Gosse
The most famous instance of this myth is that of Persephone.
Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail
Alfred Nutt

British Dictionary definitions for persephone

Persephone

noun

Greek myth a daughter of Zeus and Demeter, abducted by Hades and made his wife and queen of the underworld, but allowed part of each year to leave itRoman counterpart: Proserpina

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 persephone

Persephone

wife of Hades, queen of the netherworld, identified with Kore, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, from Greek Persephone (see person).