Persephone

American

[per-sef-uh-nee] / pərˈsɛf ə ni /

noun

Classical Mythology. Also Proserpina Proserpine 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.

Persephone British

/ pəˈsɛfənɪ /

noun

Roman counterpart: Proserpina. 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 it

"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

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.

From Demeter mourning Persephone to the harvest holidays of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot, we’ve always marked time through the land.

From Salon • Oct. 7, 2025

The pattern across the jersey is inspired by a fifth-century BC vase attributed to Persephone, which depicts Ulysses and the sorceress Circe in Homer's Odyssey.

From BBC • Jul. 23, 2024

And so they did, with DiFranco singing the part of Persephone.

From New York Times • Jan. 6, 2024

As our story begins, the goddess Persephone is in the underworld, where she lives half the year with her husband, Hades.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 1, 2023

Holding the reins was Hades himself, Lord of the Dead, with Demeter and Persephone riding behind him.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023