neptunian
/nɛpˈt(j)u.ni.ən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.78 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or pertaining to Neptune, the Roman god of fresh water and the sea, the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon.
adj
Of or pertaining to water or the sea.
adj
Of, pertaining to, or supporting Neptunism (“a discredited theory that rocks were formed from the crystallisation of minerals in the early Earth's oceans”).
adj
Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Neptune.
adj
Of or pertaining to the planet Neptune.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonym: Poseidonian"
- "The Tomb disburd'ning, whence the Ghoſt aroſe / Of great Achilles; Such when Thracian Foes / (The Prelude of thy Fates, Troy!) he o'rethrew, / And the white hair'd Neptunian Cycnus [i.e., Neptune's son] ſlew."
- "Tyrian garbs, / Neptunian Albion's high teſtaceous food [i.e., oysters], / And flavour'd Chian wines with incenſe fum'd / To ſlake Patrician thirſt: for theſe, their rights / In the vile ſtreets they proſtitute to ſale; / Their ancient rights, their dignities, their laws, / Their native glorious freedom."
- "Where the inſulting ſtreams of Chaos roar, / Where boiſt'rous waves the rugged ſhores ſurround, / And ſtorms and whirlwinds in the air abound, / There meet two rivals of Neptunian race, / Hoſtilities begin with fierce grimace: [...]"
- "Since lately the Neptunian admiral (Sextus Pompeius) when driven from the sea, fled with his burnt ships, having menaced those chains to Rome, which as a friend he had taken off from perfidious slaves."
- "neptunian dyke"
Etymology
From Latin Neptūnius (“of or pertaining to the Roman god Neptune”), from Neptūnus (“the Roman god Neptune”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nebʰ- (“to become damp, cloudy”)) + -ius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns); analysable as Neptune + -ian. The English word is cognate with French neptunien (“pertaining to the Roman god Neptune, pertaining to the sea, pertaining to Neptunism, Neptunian; proponent of Neptunism, Neptunist”), German Neptunier (“proponent of Neptunism, Neptunist”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /nɛpˈt(j)u.ni.ən/
- British English: /nɛpˈtjuː.nɪ.ən/