[af-ruh-dahy-tee] 
| the ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty, identified by the Romans with Venus. |
| aph·ro·di·te (āf'rə-dī'tē) n. A brightly colored butterfly (Argynnis aphrodite) of North America. [From Aphrodite.] |
| Aph·ro·di·te (āf'rə-dī'tē) n. Greek Mythology The goddess of love and beauty. Also called Cytherea. [Greek Aphrodītē, of Phoenician origin; see ʕṯtr in Semitic roots.] |
The Greek and Roman goddess of love and beauty; the mother of Eros and Aeneas. In what may have been the first beauty contest, Paris awarded her the prize (the apple of discord), choosing her over Hera and Athena as the most beautiful goddess (see Judgment of Paris). She was thought to have been born out of the foam of the sea and is thus often pictured rising from the water, notably in The Birth of Venus, by Botticelli.
rəˈdaɪ