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Thanatos

American  
[than-uh-tos, -tohs] / ˈθæn əˌtɒs, -toʊs /

noun

  1. an ancient Greek personification of death.

  2. Psychoanalysis. the death instinct, especially as expressed in violent aggression.


Thanatos British  
/ ˌθænəˈtɒtɪk, ˈθænəˌtɒs /

noun

  1. Roman counterpart: Mors.  the Greek personification of death: son of Nyx, goddess of night

  2. the name chosen by Freud to represent a universal death instinct Compare Eros

"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

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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.

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Sitting cross-legged in my friend’s attic, I tore through those pages, ricocheting between Thanatos and Eros.

From Washington Post May 26, 2020

The study about Thanatos was published last month in the Cretaceous Research journal.

From BBC Feb. 11, 2020

Not that that the arrows that staves off Thanatos are it feels like it does.

From The New Yorker Nov. 30, 2018

And, of course, as with Donne, when you start to look a little closer, you find that the amorous and the ascetic, the profane and the sacred, Eros and Thanatos have been intimately bound throughout.

From The Guardian Nov. 19, 2016

They had to get to Alaska, find Thanatos, locate the legion’s standard, and make it back to Camp Jupiter by the evening of June 24.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

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