empusa
/ɛmˈpjuːsə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.23 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A monster sent by (and sometimes the progeny of) the goddess Hecate; when imagined as the first or only empusa, or as a species of monster.
noun
Alternative letter-case form of empusa.
noun
In Ancient Greek mythology, a kind of spectre sent by Hecate to guard roads and devour travellers.
Example Sentences
- "Hobbes compares this hybrid school divinity to Empusa, a female specter in ancient Greek mythology who was supposed to have been sent by the goddess Hecate[…]."
- "The Empusa was a female vampire from Greek mythology that feasted on the blood of men."
- "The Empusa are commanded by Hecate, one of the Greek Moon goddesses."
- "1858, "Empūsa", entry in William Smith, A Classical Dictionary of Biography, Mythology, and Geography, John Murray, page 240, The Lamiae and Mormolyceia, who assumed the form of handsome women for the purpose of attracting young men, and then sucked their blood like vampyrs and ate their flesh, were reckoned among the Empusae."
- "The empusae of Greek mythology demonstrate physical animal traits of the donkey and the female dog in order to emphasize certain negative characteristics associated with these animals in mythology that can also be applied to human beings."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Ἔμπουσα