phryne
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.91 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The suffrages were recently divided between Mademoiselle Lange and Madame Tallien — the Helen and Phryne of the nation."
- "But in the first of these instances, an impediment may be supposed to be insurmountable, which Dryden has only surmounted by the substitution of matchless beauties of his own! He wins his cause, like Phryne pleading before the Areopagus."
- "The Roman-period stories that circulated about Phryne have to do with her beauty, her nudity, and her forwardness.[…]Alciphron also crafts a letter that Phryne writes to Praxiteles; in it, Phryne toys with the theological implications of Praxiteles' use of her as a model for Aphrodite, and her statuary appearance at a sanctuary to Eros at Thespiai."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek Φρύνη (Phrúnē), from φρύνη (phrúnē, “toad”), a nickname often given to prostitutes of the time.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Φρύνη