phaethon
NounSynonyms:
genus Phaethon
Open English WordNet
Noun (2)
- (Greek mythology) son of Helios; killed when trying to drive his father's chariot and came too close to earthInstance of Greek deity
- type genus of the PhaethontidaeSynonyms: genus PhaethonType of bird genusMember of Phaethontidae, family PhaethontidaeMembers tropic bird, tropicbird
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Pha′ë·thon (fā′ē-thŏn), prop. n.
Origin: L., Phaëthon (in sense 1), fr. Gr. Φαέθων, fr. φαέθειν, φάειν, to shine. See Phantom.
1. Class. Myth. The son of Helios (Phœbus), that is, the son of light, or of the sun. He is fabled to have obtained permission to drive the chariot of the sun, in doing which his want of skill would have set the world on fire, had he not been struck with a thunderbolt by Jupiter, and hurled headlong into the river Po.
2. Zoology A genus of oceanic birds including the tropic birds.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54