- Aphrodite (n.)
- Gk. goddess of love and beauty; by the ancients, her name was derived from Gk. aphros "foam," from the story of her birth, but perhaps it is ult. from Phoenician Ashtaroth (Assyrian Ishtar). In 17c. Eng., pronounced to rhyme with night, right, etc.
- aphrodisiac (n.)
- 1719, from Gk. aphrodisiakos "inducing sexual desire," from aphrodisios, "pertaining to Aphrodite" (q.v.), Gk. goddess of love and beauty.
- priapic
- "phallic," 1786, from Priapus, from Gk. Priapos, son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, the god who personified male reproductive power. His name is of unknown origin. Hence priapism (1598) "persistent erection of the penis."
- Cyprus
- from Gk. Kypros "land of cypress trees" (see cypress); eastern Mediterranean island famous in ancient times as the birthplace of Aphrodite and for erotic worship rituals offered to her there; hence Cyprian (adj.) "licentious, lewd" (1599); applied 18c.-19c. to prostitutes.
- Adonis
- "a beau," 1620s, from Gk. Adonis, name of the youth beloved by Aphrodite, from Phoenician adon "lord," probably originally "ruler," from base a-d-n "to judge, rule." Adonai, an O.T. word for "God," is the Heb. cognate, with pl. of majesty.
- hermaphrodite
- late 14c. (harmofroditus), from L. hermaphroditus, from Gk. Hermaphroditos (L. Hermaphroditus), son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who, in Ovid, was loved by the nymph Salmacis so ardently that she prayed for complete union with him and as a result they were united bodily, combining male and female characteristics.
- callipygian
- "of, pertaining to, or having beautiful buttocks," 1800, from Gk. kallipygos, name of a statue of Aphrodite, from kalli-, combining form of kallos "beauty" + pyge "rump, buttocks." Sir Thomas Browne (1646) refers to "Callipygæ and women largely composed behinde."
- Aeneas
- hero of the "Æneid," son of Anchises and Aphrodite, L., from Gk. Aineias, perhaps lit. "praise-worthy," from ainos "tale, story, saying, praise" (related to enigma). The Aeneid is lit. "of or pertaining to Aeneas" (late 15c. in English), from Fr. Enéide, L. Æneida.
- April
- c.1300, aueril, from O.Fr. avrill (11c.), from L. (mensis) Aprilis "(month) of Venus," second month of the ancient Roman calendar, dedicated to the goddess Venus and perhaps based on Apru, an Etruscan borrowing of Gk. Aphrodite. Replaced O.E. Eastermonað, which was similarly named for a fertility goddess. Re-spelled in M.E. on L. model (apprile first attested late 14c.).
- Astarte
- Phoenician goddess identical with Gk. Aphrodite, from Gk. Astarte, from Phoenician Astoreth.
- 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 late 13c. (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. The Algonquian name for the plant, titipiwitshile, yielded regional Amer.Eng. tippity wichity.
- apple
- O.E. æppel "apple," from P.Gmc. *ap(a)laz (cf. O.Fris., Du. appel, O.N. eple, O.H.G. apful, Ger. Apfel), from PIE *ab(e)l "apple" (cf. Gaul. avallo "fruit;" O.Ir. ubull, Lith. obuolys, O.C.S. jabloko "apple"), but the exact relation and original sense of these is uncertain (cf. melon). As late as 17c. a generic term for all fruit other than berries but including nuts. Hence its grafting onto the unnamed "fruit of the forbidden tree" in Genesis. Cucumbers, in one O.E. work, are eorþæppla, lit. "earth-apples" (cf. Fr. pomme de terre "potato," lit. "earth-apple;" see also melon). Fr. pomme is from L. pomum "fruit."
"A roted eppel amang þe holen, makeþ rotie þe yzounde." ["Ayenbite of Inwit," 1340]
Apple of Discord (c.1400) was thrown into the wedding of Thetis and Peleus by Eris (goddess of chaos and discord), who had not been invited, and inscribed kallisti "To the Prettiest One." Paris, elected to choose which goddess should have it, gave it to Aphrodite, offending Hera and Athene, with consequences of the Trojan War, etc. Apple of one's eye (O.E.), symbol of what is most cherished, was the pupil, supposed to be a globular solid body. Apple-polisher "one who curries favor" first attested 1928 in student slang.