Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Isis
I′sis
,Noun.
[L., the goddess Isis, fr. Gr. [GREEK].]
1.
(Myth.)
The principal goddess worshiped by the Egyptians. She was regarded as the mother of Horus, and the sister and wife of Osiris. The Egyptians adored her as the goddess of fecundity, and as the great benefactress of their country, who instructed their ancestors in the art of agriculture.
2.
(Zool.)
Any coral of the genus Isis, or family
Isidæ
, composed of joints of white, stony coral, alternating with flexible, horny joints. See Gorgoniacea
. 3.
(Astron.)
One of the asteroids.
Definition 2024
Isis
Isis
English
Isis as shown in Egyptian art
Proper noun
Isis
- (Egyptian mythology) An ancient Egyptian goddess, the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, worshiped as the ideal mother and wife and as the matron of nature and magic.
- (astronomy) Short for 42 Isis, a main belt asteroid.
- (uncommon) A female given name
- 1924, Zora Neale Hurston, Drenched in Light:
- Isis had crawled under the center table with its red plush cover with little round balls for fringe.
- 1995, Iain Banks, Whit:
- 'Beloved Isis,' Elias grinned, 'would you kindly cast some light into the poor occluded mind of our brother here on the matter of the co-essential nature of the body and the soul?'
- 1924, Zora Neale Hurston, Drenched in Light:
Related terms
Translations
ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility
Etymology 2
Back-formation from Tamesis (“Latin name for Thames”), from the assumption that the word was derived from a compound of Thame (“A tributary of the Thames”) and Isis.
Proper noun
Isis
- (Britain, chiefly Oxfordshire, otherwise, dated) The River Thames between its source and its confluence with the River Thame at Dorchester on Thames.
Etymology 3
Proper noun
Isis
- Alternative letter-case form of ISIS
Danish
Etymology
From Ancient Greek Ἶσις (Îsis, “Isis”), from Egyptian
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Ȝs.t or
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Ȝs.t.
Proper noun
Isis
German
Etymology 1
From Ancient Greek Ἶσις (Îsis, “Isis”), from Egyptian
|
Ȝs.t or
|
Ȝs.t.
Proper noun
Isis f (genitive Isis' or Isis)
- Isis.
Proper noun
Isis f (genitive Isis' or Isis)
isis
isis
English
Noun
isis (plural isises)
- (zoology) Any coral of the genus Isis, or family Isididae, composed of joints of white, stony coral, alternating with flexible, horny joints.
- 1834, John Mason Good, The Book of Nature
- […] the numerous families of coral, which, under the form of tubular, starry, or stony stems, are denominated tubipores, madrepores, and isises.
- 1834, John Mason Good, The Book of Nature