English

Proper noun

Lamia

1. A city in Greece.

Translations

Anagrams

• Malia

French

Proper noun

Lamia

1. Lamia

Anagrams

• maila, lamai

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

• vampire

Translations

Anagrams

• Malia

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.

Usage notes

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

References

• lamia in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• lamia in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• LAMIA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “lamia”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• lamia in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia
• lamia in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• lamia in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• lamia in William Smith., editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly