English Explanatory Dictionary

Philomela

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. A female given name.
  2. the sister of Procne who is raped and mutilated by her brother-in-law Tereus and supposedly transformed into a bird by the gods.
  3. The nightingale.

Word forms

Philomela Philomel

Etymology

From Latin Philomela, from Ancient Greek Φιλομήλη (Philomḗlē), from φίλος (phílos, “love”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “apple; fruit; sheep”), but folk-etymologized since at least Ovid's time as "lover of song".

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