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Origin and history of Perseus

Perseus

Greek hero, son of Zeus and Danaë, slayer of the gorgon Medusa, from Greek Perseus, a name of unknown origin. Also the name of an ancient northern constellation representing him.

Entries linking to Perseus

Perseid(n.)

"a meteor from an annual shower that appears to radiate from the constellation Perseus," 1867, from Modern Latin Perseides (plural; Schiaparelli, 1866), from Greek Perseis "daughter of Perseus" (see Perseus; also see -id). The name might have been introduced in English via the writings of Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. Other recorded old names for them in English include August meteors and Tears of St. Lawrence (whose feast day is August 10).

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    Algol
    variable star (Beta Persei) in the constellation Perseus, late 14c., literally "the Demon," from Arabic al-ghul "the demon...It corresponds, in modern representations of the constellation, to the gorgon's head Perseus holds, but probably it was so...
    Andromeda
    daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, she was bound to a rock to be destroyed by the sea monster Cetus, but was rescued by Perseus...
    gorgon
    Slain by Perseus, her head was fixed on the aegis of Athena....
    Pegasus
    spring" (plural pēgai), especially in reference to the "springs of Ocean," near which Medusa was said to have been killed by Perseus...
    poet
    "one endowed with the gift and power of imaginative invention and creation, attended by corresponding eloquence of expression, commonly but not necessarily in a metrical form" [Century Dictionary, 1895], early 14c., "a poet, an author of metrical compositions; one skilled in the
    attend
    c. 1300, "be subject to" (obsolete); early 14c., "direct one's mind or energies" (archaic), from Old French atendre "to expect, wait for, pay attention" (12c., Modern French attendre) and directly from Latin attendere "give heed to," literally "to stretch toward," from ad "to, to
    conjure
    late 13c., "command on oath;" c. 1300, "summon by a sacred name, invoke by incantation or magic," from Old French conjurer "invoke, conjure" (12c.) and directly from Latin coniurare "to swear together; conspire," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + iurare "
    spick-and-span
    also spic-and-span, "very neat, clean, and trim," 1660s, from spick-and-span-new "new and fresh" (1570s), literally "new as a recently made spike and wood-chip." It seems to be an elaboration, with spick "nail" (see spike (n.1)), of older span-new "very new," in reference to some
    almond
    kernel of the fruit of the almond tree, c. 1300, from Old French almande, amande, earlier alemondle "almond," from Vulgar Latin *amendla, *amandula, from Latin amygdala (plural), from Greek amygdalos "an almond tree," a word of unknown origin, perhaps from Semitic. Late Old Engli
    preliminary
    "preceding and leading up to something more important," 1660s, from French préliminaire and directly from Medieval Latin praeliminaris, from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + limen (genitive liminis) "threshold" (see limit (n.)). A word that arose in reference to painstaking diplo

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