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hyadeses

 - 2 dictionary results

Hy⋅a⋅des

[hahy-uh-deez]
–noun (used with a plural verb)
1. Astronomy. a group of stars comprising a moving cluster in the constellation Taurus, supposed by the ancients to indicate the approach of rain when they rose with the sun.
2. Classical Mythology. a group of nymphs and sisters of the Pleiades who nurtured the infant Dionysus and were placed among the stars as a reward.
Also, Hy⋅ads [hahy-adz] .


Origin:
1350–1400; ME Hiades < L < Gk, equiv. to (ein) to rain + -ades, pl. of -as -ad
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

Hyades 
star cluster in constellation Taurus, 1398, from Gk. Hyades, popularly explained as "rain-bringers" (from hyein "to rain"), because wet weather supposedly began coincidentally with their heliacal rising, but in fact probably from hys "swine" (the L. word for them was Suculæ "little pigs").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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