orpheus

Or·phe·us

O o

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [awr-fee-uh s, -fyoos]
- /ˈɔr fi əs, -fyus/
- /ˈɔː.fiəs/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [awr-fee-uh s, -fyoos]
- /ˈɔr fi əs, -fyus/

Definitions of orpheus word

noun orpheus Greek Legend. a poet and musician, a son of Calliope, who followed his dead wife, Eurydice, to the underworld. By charming Hades, he obtained permission to lead her away, provided he did not look back at her until they returned to earth. But at the last moment he looked, and she was lost to him forever. 1
noun orpheus (italics) a ballet (1947) with music by Stravinsky and choreography by Balanchine. 1
noun orpheus a poet and lyre-player credited with the authorship of the poems forming the basis of Orphism. He married Eurydice and sought her in Hades after her death. He failed to win her back and was killed by a band of bacchantes 0
noun orpheus a poet-musician with magic musical powers who descends to the underworld and tries to lead his wife, Eurydice, back from the dead but fails because he breaks the injunction not to look back at her until they reach the upper world 0

See all 4 definitions of orpheus

Information block about the term

Parts of speech for Orpheus

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Orpheus

orpheus popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 91% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

orpheus usage trend in Literature

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See also

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