Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Lamia

La′mi-a

,
Noun.
[L., fr. Gr. [GREEK].]
(Class. Myth.)
A monster capable of assuming a woman’s form, who was said to devour human beings or suck their blood; a vampire; a sorceress; a witch.

Webster 1828 Edition


Lamia

LA'MIA

,
Noun.
[L.] A hag; a witch; a demon.

Definition 2024


Lamia

Lamia

See also: lamia, lamía, làmia, and lâmia

English

Proper noun

Lamia

  1. A city in Greece.

Translations

Anagrams


French

Proper noun

Lamia

  1. Lamia

Anagrams

lamia

lamia

See also: Lamia, lamía, làmia, and lâmia

English

Noun

lamia (plural lamias or lamiae)

  1. A monster preying upon human beings and who sucked the blood of children, often described as having the head and breasts of a woman and the lower half of a serpent.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, III.2.1.i:
      Apollonius […] by some probable conjectures, found her out to be a serpent, a lamia, and that all her furniture was like Tantalus' gold described by Homer, no substance, but mere illusions.

Synonyms

Translations

Anagrams


Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Λάμια (Lámia).

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈla.mi.a/, [ˈɫa.mi.a]

Noun

lamia f (genitive lamiae); first declension

  1. witch who was said to suck children's blood (sort of female bogeyman), a sorceress, enchantress
  2. sort of flatfish
  3. species of owl

Inflection

First declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative lamia lamiae
genitive lamiae lamiārum
dative lamiae lamiīs
accusative lamiam lamiās
ablative lamiā lamiīs
vocative lamia lamiae

Usage notes

  • Elsewhere used to refer to a type of flatfish and a type of owl.

References