Word of the day
Posted: Thu Aug 19 2021 9:28am
THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2021 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/
Phlegethon
[ fleg-uh-thon, flej- ]
noun
a stream of fire or fiery light.
THE ORIGIN OF PHLEGETHON
In addition to referring to “a stream of fire or fiery light,” Phlegethon retains its original meaning as the river of fire that surrounded Hades, the underworld, in Greek mythology. Its name literally means “burning” or “flaming” in Ancient Greek. The Phlegethon was one of five rivers in Hades; the others were the Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, and Styx. While the Phlegethon was known as the river of fire, the Acheron was the river of sadness, the Cocytus was the river of weeping, the Lethe was the river of forgetfulness, and the Styx was the river of hatred. All five rivers coalesced at the center of Hades, and Charon ferried the souls of the dead either along the Acheron or the Styx, depending on the author.
HOW IS PHLEGETHON USED?
[T]he Baptistery shone with ice, and the porch-lions of the Cathedral looked as though some eighteenth-century Farnese had fitted powdered wigs upon them. The Torrente from its bridges seemed a Phlegethon, a river of whirling smoke, but felt like what it really was: a reservoir of benumbing vapor. EDWIN HOWLAND BLASHFIELD AND EVANGELINE WILBOUR BLASHFIELD, ITALIAN CITIES, VOL. 1, 1900
The buckets dropped; the water sizzed and steamed on the sand. The boy barely missed stumbling into a Phlegethon of molten iron as he dodged the murderous missile. ISAAC K. FRIEDMAN, BY BREAD ALONE, 1901
Phlegethon
[ fleg-uh-thon, flej- ]
noun
a stream of fire or fiery light.
THE ORIGIN OF PHLEGETHON
In addition to referring to “a stream of fire or fiery light,” Phlegethon retains its original meaning as the river of fire that surrounded Hades, the underworld, in Greek mythology. Its name literally means “burning” or “flaming” in Ancient Greek. The Phlegethon was one of five rivers in Hades; the others were the Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, and Styx. While the Phlegethon was known as the river of fire, the Acheron was the river of sadness, the Cocytus was the river of weeping, the Lethe was the river of forgetfulness, and the Styx was the river of hatred. All five rivers coalesced at the center of Hades, and Charon ferried the souls of the dead either along the Acheron or the Styx, depending on the author.
HOW IS PHLEGETHON USED?
[T]he Baptistery shone with ice, and the porch-lions of the Cathedral looked as though some eighteenth-century Farnese had fitted powdered wigs upon them. The Torrente from its bridges seemed a Phlegethon, a river of whirling smoke, but felt like what it really was: a reservoir of benumbing vapor. EDWIN HOWLAND BLASHFIELD AND EVANGELINE WILBOUR BLASHFIELD, ITALIAN CITIES, VOL. 1, 1900
The buckets dropped; the water sizzed and steamed on the sand. The boy barely missed stumbling into a Phlegethon of molten iron as he dodged the murderous missile. ISAAC K. FRIEDMAN, BY BREAD ALONE, 1901
