English

Proper noun

Ophelia

1. A female given name
   • 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act V, Scene i:

     I lov’d Ophelia: forty thousand brothers // Could not, with all their quantity of love, // Make up my sum.

2. (astronomy) A moon of Uranus, named after the character in Hamlet.

Usage notes

• Although rarely used today, Ophelia as a given name was somewhat popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Derived terms

• Ophelia complex
• Ophelian
• Ophelia syndrome

Translations