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walkyrie

 - 5 dictionary results

Wal⋅kyr⋅ie

  [wahl-keer-ee, -kahy-ree, vahl-, wahl-keer-ee, vahl-]
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–noun
Valkyrie.

Val⋅kyr⋅ie

  [val-keer-ee, -kahy-ree, vahl-, val-kuh-ree]
–noun Scandinavian Mythology.
any of the beautiful maidens attendant upon Odin who bring the souls of slain warriors chosen by Odin or Tyr to Valhalla and there wait upon them.
Also, Walkyrie.

Origin:
< ON valkyrja chooser of the slain (c. OE wælcyrie witch), equiv. to val(r) the slain in battle, slaughter (c. OE wæl) + kyrja chooser (c. OE cyrie); akin to choose

Related forms:
Val⋅kyr⋅i⋅an, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Val·kyr·ie   (vāl-kîr'ē, -kī'rē, vāl'kə-rē)   
n.   Mythology
Any of Odin's handmaidens who conducted the souls of the slain to Valhalla.

[Old Norse Valkyrja; see welə- in Indo-European roots.]
Wal·kyr·ie   (wäl-kîr'ē, -kī'rē, väl-, wäl'kə-rē, väl'-)   
n.  Variant of Valkyrie.
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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Word Origin & History

Valkyrie 
1768, one of 12 war-maidens who escorted the brave dead to Valhalla, from O.N. valkyrja, lit. "chooser of the slain," from valr "those slain in battle" (see Valhalla) + kyrja "chooser," from ablaut root of kjosa "to choose," from P.Gmc. *keusan, from PIE *geus- "to taste, choose" (see gusto). O.E. form was Wælcyrie, but they seem not to have figured as largely in Anglo-Saxon tales as in Scandinavian. Ger. Walküre (Wagner) is from O.N.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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