Venus

American  

[vee-nuhs] / ˈvi nəs /

noun

• Venuses
  plural

1. an ancient Italian goddess of gardens and spring, identified by the Romans with Aphrodite as the goddess of love and beauty.

2. an exceptionally beautiful woman.

3. (sometimes lowercase) a statuette of a female figure, usually carved of ivory and typically having exaggerated breasts, belly, or buttocks, often found in Upper Paleolithic cultures from Siberia to France.

4. Astronomy. the planet second in order from the sun, having an equatorial diameter of 7,521 miles (12,104 km), a mean distance from the sun of 67.2 million miles (108.2 million km), a period of revolution of 224.68 days, and no moons. It is the most brilliant planet in the solar system.

5. Chemistry Obsolete. copper.

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Venus ¹ British  

/ ˈviːnəs /

noun

1. one of the inferior planets and the second nearest to the sun, visible as a bright morning or evening star. Its surface is extremely hot (over 400°C) and is completely shrouded by dense cloud. The atmosphere is principally carbon dioxide. Mean distance from sun: 108 million km; period of revolution around sun: 225 days; period of axial rotation: 244.3 days (retrograde motion); diameter and mass: 96.5 and 81.5 per cent that of earth respectively

2. the alchemical name for copper 1

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Venus ² British  

/ ˈviːnəs /

noun

1. Greek counterpart: Aphrodite. the Roman goddess of love

2. See mons veneris

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Venus Scientific  

/ vē′nəs /

1. The second planet from the Sun, with a diameter about 400 miles less than that of Earth. Venus is a terrestrial or inner planet and at inferior conjunction comes nearer to Earth than any other planet; depending on its phase, it is also the brightest object in the night sky aside from Earth's moon. Because Venus is an inferior planet (located between Earth and the Sun), it is only visible relatively near the horizon in the first few hours before sunrise or after sunset. It has a dense atmosphere consisting primarily of carbon dioxide, which, together with its proximity to the Sun, creates an intense greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in the solar system with an average surface temperature of 464°C (867°F). Venus is completely shrouded by a thick layer of clouds made up mainly of droplets of sulfuric acid with other clouds of vaporous and particulate sulfur dioxide below it. Radar mapping of the Venutian surface shows rolling hills, plains, and numerous volcanoes as well as large impact craters and extensive lava flows.

2. See Table at solar system

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Venus ¹ Cultural  

1. The Roman name of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty in classical mythology.

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Venus ² Cultural  

1. In astronomy, the second major planet from the sun, named for the Roman goddess of love. The surface of Venus is very hot and covered with clouds. Spacecraft from the former Soviet Union landed on Venus and survived long enough to send back photographs and measurements. (See solar system; see under “Mythology and Folklore.”)

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Discover More

The second planet from the sun (the Earth is third) is named Venus.

Venus is seen from the Earth as a bright morning or evening star — occasionally bright enough to cast a shadow.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Venuses
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Venus

< Latin Venus, stem Vener- originally a neuter common noun meaning “physical desire, sexual appetite,” hence “qualities exciting desire, seductiveness, charm,” “a goddess personifying sexual attractiveness”; cognate with Sanskrit vanaḥ desire, akin to wish; cf. venerate, venom

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Venus Venuses

Lunny is survived by his family including his children Oisin, Cora Venus, and Sora Chan, as well as his partner Una O'Boyle.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

It has an eight-year cruise with flybys of Earth and Venus to slingshot it to Jupiter.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026

“So much of the history of art is the anonymity of women, whether she’s a Madonna, Venus or a nude bather,” says art historian Katy Hessel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

Eventual champion Alexander Zverev finished past 1am in three of his first five matches, while Venus Williams finished her first-round match at 2am.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

If Venus was closer to the Earth than the sun, its phases would range from crescent to half and never pass the half-illuminated point.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

The chaos of three time zones and daylight saving couldn’t stop us from deconstructing the lens of art history, which, McCormack argues, wants to confine women to four categories: Venuses, mothers, damsels or monsters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2021

For now, studying Venus up close may be the only route to reliable estimates of which is more common in the cosmos: Earths or Venuses.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 2, 2021

Like his sad-eyed Venuses who float just beyond reality, this young man has his mind on the infinite.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 25, 2020

Mr. Caja developed a personal iconography, featuring birds, eggs, bunnies, pigs, blond Venuses, and more.

From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2019

I need not quote the Venuses of our directories.

From Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature by Charles W. Bardsley

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Related Words

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