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Venus - 7 dictionary results
Ve⋅nus
[vee-nuh
s] 
–noun, plural -us⋅es for 2.
| 1. | an ancient Italian goddess of gardens and spring, identified by the Romans with Aphrodite as the goddess of love and beauty. |
| 2. | an exceptionally beautiful woman. |
| 3. | (sometimes lowercase) Archaeology. a statuette of a female figure, usually carved of ivory and typically having exaggerated breasts, belly, or buttocks, often found in Upper Paleolithic cultures from Siberia to France. |
| 4. | Astronomy. the planet second in order from the sun, having an equatorial diameter of 7521 miles (12,104 km), a mean distance from the sun of 67.2 million miles (108.2 million km), a period of revolution of 224.68 days, and no moons. It is the most brilliant planet in the solar system. |
| 5. | Chemistry Obsolete. copper. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To Venus
| Ve·nus (vē'nəs) n.
[Middle English, from Old English, from Latin, love, Venus; see wen-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Venus
Ve"nus\, n. [L. Venus, -eris, the goddess of love, the planet Venus.]1. (Class. Myth.) The goddess of beauty and love, that is, beauty or love deified. 2. (Anat.) One of the planets, the second in order from the sun, its orbit lying between that of Mercury and that of the Earth, at a mean distance from the sun of about 67,000,000 miles. Its diameter is 7,700 miles, and its sidereal period 224.7 days. As the morning star, it was called by the ancients Lucifer; as the evening star, Hesperus. 3. (Alchem.) The metal copper; -- probably so designated from the ancient use of the metal in making mirrors, a mirror being still the astronomical symbol of the planet Venus. [Archaic] 4. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of marine bivalve shells of the genus Venus or family Venerid[ae]. Many of these shells are large, and ornamented with beautiful frills; others are smooth, glossy, and handsomely colored. Some of the larger species, as the round clam, or quahog, are valued for food. Venus's basin (Bot.), the wild teasel; -- so called because the connate leaf bases form a kind of receptacle for water, which was formerly gathered for use in the toilet. Also called Venus's bath. Venus's basket (Zo["o]l.), an elegant, cornucopia-shaped, hexactinellid sponge (Euplectella speciosa) native of the East Indies. It consists of glassy, transparent, siliceous fibers interwoven and soldered together so as to form a firm network, and has long, slender, divergent anchoring fibers at the base by means of which it stands erect in the soft mud at the bottom of the sea. Called also Venus's flower basket, and Venus's purse. Venus's comb. (a) (Bot.) Same as Lady's comb. (b) (Zo["o]l.) A species of Murex (M. tenuispinus). It has a long, tubular canal, with a row of long, slender spines along both of its borders, and rows of similar spines covering the body of the shell. Called also Venus's shell. Venus's fan (Zo["o]l.), a common reticulated, fanshaped gorgonia (Gorgonia flabellum) native of Florida and the West Indies. When fresh the color is purple or yellow, or a mixture of the two. Venus's flytrap. (Bot.) See Flytrap, 2. Venus's girdle (Zo["o]l.), a long, flat, ribbonlike, very delicate, transparent and iridescent ctenophore (Cestum Veneris) which swims in the open sea. Its form is due to the enormous development of two spheromeres. See Illust. in Appendix. Venus's hair (Bot.), a delicate and graceful fern (Adiantum Capillus-Veneris) having a slender, black and shining stem and branches. Venus's hair stone (Min.), quartz penetrated by acicular crystals of rutile. Venus's looking-glass (Bot.), an annual plant of the genus Specularia allied to the bellflower; -- also called lady's looking-glass. Venus's navelwort (Bot.), any one of several species of Omphalodes, low boraginaceous herbs with small blue or white flowers. Venus's pride (Bot.), an old name for Quaker ladies. See under Quaker. Venus's purse. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Venus's basket, above. Venus's shell. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any species of Cypr[ae]a; a cowrie. (b) Same as Venus's comb, above. (c) Same as Venus, 4. Venus's slipper. (a) (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Cypripedium. See Lady's slipper. (b) (Zo["o]l.) Any heteropod shell of the genus Carinaria. See Carinaria.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Venus
The Roman name of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty in classical mythology.
Note: The second planet from the sun (the Earth is third) is named Venus.
Venus
In astronomy, the second major planet from the sun, named for the Roman goddess of love. The surface of Venus is very hot and covered with clouds. Spacecraft from the former Soviet Union landed on Venus and survived long enough to send back photographs and measurements. (See solar system; see under “Mythology and Folklore.”)
Note: Venus is seen from the Earth as a bright morning or evening star — occasionally bright enough to cast a shadow.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Venus
O.E., from L. Venus (pl. veneres), in ancient Roman mythology, the goddess of beauty and love, especially sensual love, from venus "love, sexual desire, loveliness, beauty, charm," from PIE base *wen- "to strive after, wish, desire, be satisfied" (cf. Skt. vanas- "desire," vanati "desires, loves, wins;" Avestan vanaiti "he wishes, is victorious;" O.E. wynn "joy," wunian "to dwell," wenian "to accustom, train, wean," wyscan "to wish"). Applied by the Romans to Gk. Aphrodite, Egyptian Hathor, etc. Meaning "second planet from the sun" is attested from c.1290 (O.E. had morgensteorra and æfensteorra). The venus fly-trap (Dionæa muscipula) was discovered 1760 by Gov. Arthur Dobbs in North Carolina and description sent to Collinson in England.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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| Venus (vē'nəs) Pronunciation Key
The second planet from the Sun and the fourth smallest, with a diameter about 400 miles less than that of Earth. Venus is a terrestrial or inner planet and at inferior conjunction comes nearer to Earth than any other planet; depending on its phase, it is also the brightest object in the night sky aside from Earth's moon. Because Venus is an inferior planet (located between Earth and the Sun), it is only visible relatively near the horizon in the first few hours before sunrise or after sunset. It has a dense atmosphere consisting primarily of carbon dioxide, which, together with its proximity to the Sun, creates an intense greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in the solar system with an average surface temperature of 453°C (847°F). Venus is completely shrouded by a thick layer of clouds made up mainly of droplets of sulfuric acid with other clouds of vaporous and particulate sulfur dioxide below it. Radar mapping of the Venutian surface shows rolling hills, plains, and numerous volcanoes as well as large impact craters and extensive lava flows. See Table at solar system. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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