charon
/ˈkɛəɹən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.44 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The Ghoſts rejected, are th’ unhappy Crew Depriv’d of Sepulchers, and Fun’ral due. The Boatman, Charon; thoſe, the bury’d hoſt, He Ferries over to the Farther Coaſt."
- "But then, what though the mystic Three Around me ply their merry trade? — And Charon soon may carry me Across the gloomy Stygian glade?"
- "Last week Nasa released its highest resolution photos yet of the dwarf planet and its largest moon, Charon, revealing new mysteries that its spacecraft New Horizons had uncovered at the edge of the solar system."
Etymology
From Latin Charōn, from Ancient Greek Χάρων (Khárōn). The name of the moon was coined by American astronomer James W. Christy in 1978, in reference to a fictional moon of Pluto in a novel by Edmond Hamilton but also influenced by its similarity to Char, a pet name for Charlene, his wife's name — hence the alternative American pronunciation, which is used at NASA.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Charōn, Χάρων
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɛəɹən/
- British English: /ˈkɛəɹɒn/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Synonyms
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