Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Hydra

Hy′dra

,
Noun.
;
pl. E.
Hydras
(#)
, L.
Hydræ
(#)
.
[L.
hydra
, Gr.
ὕδρα
; akin to
ὕδωρ
water. See
Otter
the animal,
Water
.]
1.
(Class. Myth.)
A serpent or monster in the lake or marsh of Lerna, in the Peloponnesus, represented as having many heads, one of which, when cut off, was immediately succeeded by two others, unless the wound was cauterized. It was slain by Hercules. Hence, a terrible monster.
Gorgons, and
Hydras
, and Chimeras dire.
Milton.
2.
Hence: A multifarious evil, or an evil having many sources; not to be overcome by a single effort.
3.
(Zool.)
Any small fresh-water hydroid of the genus
Hydra
, usually found attached to sticks, stones, etc., by a basal sucker.
☞ The body is a simple tube, having a mouth at one extremity, surrounded by a circle of tentacles with which it captures its prey. Young hydras bud out from the sides of the older ones, but soon become detached and are then like their parent. Hydras are remarkable for their power of repairing injuries; for if the body be divided in pieces, each piece will grow into a complete hydra, to which fact the name alludes. The zooids or hydranths of marine hydroids are sometimes called hydras.
4.
(Astron.)
A southern constellation of great length lying southerly from Cancer, Leo, and Virgo.

Webster 1828 Edition

Hydra

HY'DRA

,
Noun.
[L. hydra. Gr. water.]
1.
A water serpent. In fabulous history, a serpent or monster in the lake or marsh of Lerna, in Peloponnesus, represented as having many heads, one of which, being cut off, was immediately succeeded by another, unless the wound was cauterized. Hercules killed this monster by applying firebrands to the wounds, as he cut off the heads. Hence we give the name to a multitude of evils, or to a cause of multifarious evils.
2.
A technical name of a genus of Zoophytes, called polypus, or polypuses.
3.
A southern constellation, containing 60 stars.

Definition 2024

Hydra

Hydra

See also: hydra and Hydrus

Translingual

Hydra

Etymology

From Latin Hydra, the mythical serpent.

Proper noun

Hydra f

  1. A taxonomic genus within the family Hydridae – predatory freshwater cnidarians, thought not to age, the hydras.

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

English

A Greek vase depicting the Lernaean Hydra

Proper noun

Hydra

  1. (Greek mythology) A mythological serpent with seven heads, slain by Hercules as one of his twelve labours. Also called the Lernaean Hydra.
  2. (astronomy) A spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a serpent. It lies just south of the zodiac and contains the star Alphard.
  3. (astronomy) The name of one of Pluto's moons. (Named 21 June 2006).

Synonyms

  • (astronomy, moon of Pluto): Pluto II, S/2005 P 1, S/2005 P 1 (Hydra), (134340) Pluto II, (134340) Pluto II Hydra, Pluto II (Hydra)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

German

Proper noun

Hydra f

  1. (Greek mythology) Hydra (mythical serpent)

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὕδρα ‎(húdra).

Proper noun

Hydra f ‎(genitive Hydrae); first declension

  1. (Greek mythology) The Hydra (mythical serpent)

References

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈxɨdra/

Proper noun

Hydra f

  1. (Greek mythology) Hydra (mythical serpent)
  2. (astronomy) Hydra (constellation)

Declension

Spanish

Proper noun

Hydra ?

  1. (astronomy) Hydra (constellation)

hydra

hydra

See also: Hydra and Hydrus

English

Wikispecies

Hydra

Noun

hydra ‎(plural hydras or hydrae or hydræ)

  1. Any of several small freshwater polyps of the genus Hydra and related genera, having a naked cylindrical body and an oral opening surrounded by tentacles.
  2. A complex, multifarious problem or situation that cannot be solved easily and rapidly.
    • 2009, Kris Frieswick, Till Death Do Us Pay:
      Because the statute is so vaguely worded, award decisions are habitually based on case law, the growing mountain of which is a hydra of rulings that point in so many directions that almost any decision can be defended or overturned on appeal, depending on how smart your lawyer is and which precedent he selects to argue your case.

Translations

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὕδρα ‎(húdra).

Pronunciation

Noun

hydra f ‎(genitive hydrae); first declension (masculine hydrus)

  1. A water-snake.

Inflection

First declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative hydra hydrae
genitive hydrae hydrārum
dative hydrae hydrīs
accusative hydram hydrās
ablative hydrā hydrīs
vocative hydra hydrae

Related terms

References

  • hydra in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • HYDRA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
  • hydra in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia
  • hydra in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • hydra in William Smith., editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

Etymology

From Latin Hydra, the mythical serpent, originally from Ancient Greek ὕδρα ‎(húdra), from Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ ‎(“water”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈhaɪ̯dɹə/, [ˈhaɪ̯dɹə], [ˈhaɪ̯d͡ʒɹə]

Similar Results