Phoebus

American  

[fee-buhs] / ˈfi bəs /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. Apollo as the sun god.

2. Literary. the sun personified.

---

Phoebus British  

/ ˈfiːbəs /

noun

1. Also called: Phoebus Apollo.  Greek myth Apollo as the sun god

2. poetic a personification of the sun

---

Other Word Forms

• Phoebean adjective

Etymology

Origin of Phoebus

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English Febus, Phebus, from Latin Phoebus, from Greek phoîbos “shining, radiant, bright,” used in Homer as epithet and name for Apollo; further origin uncertain

Example Sentences

All of this was a gleam in scientists’ eyes when my dad started to think about the accelerator—which he wanted to name Phoebus, for the Greek god of the Sun.

From Science Magazine • May 3, 2023

The Koller auction house in Zurich identified the new owner as The Phoebus Foundation, which is backed by the engineering and logistics conglomerate Katoen Natie-Indaver.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 21, 2023

This show, a collaboration with the Belgium-based Phoebus Foundation, offers a look at Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque paintings from the Southern Netherlands from the 15th through 17th centuries.

From New York Times • Oct. 22, 2022

Phoebus Levene believed that the four nucleotides in DNA are not linked or repeated in the same pattern and that they are held together by phosphodiester bonds.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Then the priest prayed to the mighty god he served and Phoebus Apollo heard him.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton