Prometheus
in Greek mythology, a demigod (son of the Titan Iapetus) who made man from clay and stole fire from heaven and taught mankind its use, for which he was punished by Zeus by being chained to a rock in the Caucasus, where a vulture came every day and preyed on his liver.
The name is Greek, and anciently was interpreted etymologically as "forethinker, foreseer," from promēthēs "thinking before," from pro "before" (see pro-) + *mēthos, related to mathein "to learn" (from an enlargement of PIE root *men- (1) "to think"). In another view this is folk-etymology, and Watkins suggests the second element is possibly from a base meaning "to steal," also found in Sanskrit mathnati "he steals."
updated on December 06, 2020
Dictionary entries near Prometheus
prolongation
prom
promachos
promenade
Promethean
Prometheus
promethium
prominence
prominent
promiscuity
promiscuous